


A Political Affair

by Hitomi_Zotz



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Action & Romance, Affairs, American Politics, Drama & Romance, Dysfunctional Family, Extramarital Affairs, Family, Family Issues, My First Work in This Fandom, Scandal, Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2020-12-27 23:26:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 49
Words: 271,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hitomi_Zotz/pseuds/Hitomi_Zotz
Summary: Leo McGarry has always dealt with his family problems and personal addictions with dignity and discretion but shortly after he is forced to admit to his pills and alcohol dependency publicly another problem arises- his youngest daughter Cadence has returned to his life.Leo hasn't properly spoken to his daughter in two years when she did work experience on the John Hoynes' presidential campaign before leaving in a cloud of humiliation after her thesis was outed in the press as an attack on democracy. At least that's what Leo thinks.The truth is a little more murky. Cadence and John had an affair. The problem now is that there's still a spark between the two.Throw in the complications of death threats against the White House staff and their families, a world on the brink of war, and a press hungry for scandal and it's all just normal life for the West Wing staff.





	1. A Family Affair

On the surface the idea is presented that people want their political leaders to be saintly, wise, beyond reproach and of a moral compass that would lead them to martyrdom over self-preservation. Underneath, in the shadows of the gossip corners, the truth is that people want their politicians to come bearing scandal, nothing too vulgar or violent, certainly nothing beyond forgiveness, in fact ones who follow up their embarrassments with redemption are usually the most favoured. Scandals provide entertainment, they take away from the grimness of war and the fear of terrorism and they make people feel better about their own shortcomings. If a president can sin they why should the average man feel guilty for it. Scandals make a story. Mistakes can add character to people but they can also tear them down.

Trying to present yourself as a humble human and yet avoid ruination by committing mistakes you are seen to be too intelligent for is a fine line for the politician to walk. This was something many members of the current administration knew all too well. They were still navigating through the murky waters trying to avoid revealing the scandals that would sink their careers whilst seeking the vulnerabilities they might expose to earn points with the people as they tried to present themselves as relatable by being only human.

Chief of Staff Leo McGarry had already mastered the tightrope of one such scandal. His past as an alcoholic and pill addict during his term as United States Secretary of Labor had come tumbling out thanks to Congressman Lillienfield, an aggressive Republican who had illegally come by knowledge of Leo's addictions and tried to expose it. In the end, Leo had gone to the public and sought forgiveness. He had been fortunate, just as his staff saw the man he was now and didn't get stuck in the man he was, so too did the public and they respected him for the bravery in his confession.

Leo had weathered the storm and survived but now another storm had come and he wasn't quite sure if he could survive the baggage of infamy it brought with it.

Leo's twinkling azure eyes dropped down to his watch. It was just after three in the afternoon, a terribly awkward time for him to be where he was. Better to have gotten the business over with at the start of the day or have it waiting for him at the conclusion of it. He supposed that was the chaotic nature of his companion, to disturb him in the middle of the day when he should be halfway through half a dozen daily tasks and beginning half a dozen more.

Leo lowered his hand and looked carefully at his companion as he wondered at the overall timing of her arrival. The news of his separation from Jenny was old now and even the public confession of his dark dependencies was starting to lose its shine for more heinous tales in the media.

Cadence 'Cady' McGarry was looking ahead to the large building they were walking towards. She strode forward with an excited bounce to each step and the twitch of a grin to her mouth. Twenty-three years old, ever since the revelation of her appearance in her mother's womb, she had made being unexpected her signature move. She danced in and out of her family's lives on a whim, chasing ever changing ambitions whilst attempting to avoid the malignant corners her life often seemed to turn into.

Mallory, Leo's eldest, had his wisdom, his healthy ability to debate and a spark of her mother's forgotten feistiness. Cadence had inherited the rest of her mother's feistiness coupled with her father's bluntness and worse, she had inherited his weakness for giving into personal demons.

“It's really white,” Cadence commented chirpily.

“And the sky is blue and the grass is green. What an articulate daughter I have!” Leo retorted sardonically as he tried and failed to hide his annoyance. He tried to ignore the smirks of some of the Secret Service agents as he glanced over at his youngest. “Cady could you try and show something other than awe for the colour? You didn't come here for the décor.”

Leo was still trying to figure out why Cadence had come. Her mother Jenny and her sister Mallory hadn't been able to offer insight over it. Not that Leo had gotten much time to question them. It was in fact Mallory who had warned him just under twenty-four hours ago of Cadence's expected arrival. Apparently the only message had been 'tell dad I'm dropping by'.

What made Leo feel guilty was how he had never pried too much into Cadence's absence, he hadn't seen her in months and had kept little contact with her since the inauguration. The worst of it was that the distance hadn't been accidental.

With Bartlet's succession coming without a majority of the popular vote, it had been considered a reign to treat carefully, one crack and it could all shatter. One careless whisper of scandal amongst the staff and they could be fed to the public as weak, corrupt or incompetent if not all three.

Back then Leo couldn't afford for the press to suggest that if he couldn't maintain his own family he could hardly run the staff of the White House. Sure he didn't need such a suggestion now either but at least the Bartlet Administration had found its feet now and had a stronger standing with the public.

Cadence was meant to be the one who followed in her father's footsteps, showing a keen interest in history and politics as a young teenager but then the rebellion had begun.

Leo knew he had to shoulder his share of the blame for Cadence's fiery years, his addictions had gotten the better of him and he had dropped the ball in parenting. As the eldest Mallory had been fortunate, she had been gone from the family home before Leo's troubled dependencies had headed into unmanageable. It wasn't that he had been like some addicts- abusive or violent- Leo didn't have it in him but he had been ignorant and neglectful, hell he didn't need alcohol or pills for those flaws to dominate him. That was why Jenny had left him after all.

For her part, Cadence hadn't lashed out like most teenagers. There had been no drugs, underage drinking or parties. There had just been a smear campaign in school essays, a damnation of the political system, scorn for a false democracy and a sneer for the president Leo had served under as Secretary of Labor. Leo hadn't much liked that president either but that wasn't the point. It wasn't the usual rebellion but it was still damaging. The streak of self-harm Cadence had started that he had taken far too long to discover had been much worse.

Cadence's admission to therapy had been a bigger cover up than her father's voluntary entry to the Sierra-Tucson Rehab Institute. She owed her sister for that one. When Leo had dropped the ball and Jenny had been too busy trying to persuade him to seek help it had been Mallory who had discovered Cadence with the telltale ribbons of red down her arms.

Leo had thought they had gotten past it all when Cadence had hit adulthood and plunged straight into the dirty world of politics. She had taken up history and politics at university but wasn't satisfied to confine her studies to the classroom. She had sought field work and fallen in with the John Hoynes' campaign. It was yet another aspect of her life Leo had taken too long to discover given she had gone under her mother's maiden name of O'Brien. Leo had realised then that Cadence's rebellion was still in full throttle, she had just evolved her methods.

It was only after luring Josh Lyman to the Bartlet side that Leo had discovered his daughter's political field studies. At first he had tried fatherly praise and pride but she had been immune. When it had become clear that they needed Hoynes on their side for the south Leo had been ready to make another offer to his daughter but it had been too late.

The theme of Cadence's college thesis had come to light- a damning work about why the Electoral College was an antiquated and undemocratic system. It was an embarrassment. The Bartlet team couldn't have it and neither could Hoynes.

The papers, who had outed her as the Secretary of Labor's daughter, had enjoyed the story for a brief while but it had dried up quickly, downplayed as nothing more than the ambitious essay of a college student. Cadence had returned to university but the humiliation had been too much and she had dealt another blow to her father by dropping out.

With the Bartlet campaign gaining steam Leo had relied on Jenny and Mallory to keep an eye on his wayward daughter. They had been good at keeping him informed about her travels and studies but he knew they had kept things from him too, not wanting to worry him with a potential scandal.

“Well up close it is,” Cady murmured.

Her voice pulled Leo back to the present. He figured he had to be grateful that she was here now and he had a chance to reconnect with her.

“Imagine the White House being white,” Leo scorned. “This isn't your first visit to it.” He knew she was goading him, it was like a twitch with her, something she just couldn't seem to help.

“No but I don't remember the white being so bright, they must touch it up a lot,” Cadence continued to tease.

They walked quickly, entering the building and bypassing security personnel who had fast become familiar to Leo. A couple of the secret service agents gave Cadence a curious look but nothing more. They had all been briefed on her arrival despite the short notice of it.

Cadence glanced about with interest as they headed for the West Wing.

“Are you sure you want me heading this way?” she queried. “I mean I just wanted to call with you dad,” she added.

“The president made it clear he wanted to see you when you arrived,” Leo retorted, “and I think you should meet the team properly.”

Cadence glanced over at him with eyes full of the wild greys and blues of storm clouds at sea. She raised her tawny eyebrows slightly at this and tried to seek out the meaning in her father's words. The art of warfare was in all the McGarrys, they were all practised in a variety of techniques that meant they could spite people without them ever knowing it, play games to cause irritation as Leo so frequently did with Sam since he'd set eyes on Mal, or offer clever wordplay in arguments as Mal did both at work and at her father's work but as the oldest Leo was the master of it and even his own daughter couldn't always tell if he was being serious or sardonic.

Right now Cadence struggled to tell if Leo was purposely trying to invoke memories of her disastrous first encounter with the key players in the Bartlet Administration or if he was being sincere and trying to move past it and offer her a chance to start anew with them.

Leo spied the flare of nostrils and the wrinkle at the brow that let him know his daughter was frustrated and he guessed at her unvoiced thoughts.

“It was two years ago Cady,” Leo addressed her quietly, “and it's all been forgotten, we've had other things to think about. I want you to meet them properly, as my team and my friends, and you as my daughter, not some student doing work placement with a senator,” he added with a look of displeasure.

Cadence halted and her hands rose up as she folded her arms, mimicking the abrasive stance of her sister.

“Because your position is secure now?” she quipped bitingly. “So my uneducated opinions can't harm you.”

Leo stopped walking and looked at his daughter in exasperation and sighed. “Cady I'm not trying to argue, I've done enough of that with your mother and sister lately and I'm tired. Never mind all the people at work I have to quarrel with every day.”

“You brought it up,” Cadence pointed out.

Leo nodded. “And I'm beginning to regret that,” he confessed.

Leo gestured ahead to a corridor busy with staff. “Come on, I haven't seen you in ages, come see the president and we'll meet everyone and then have dinner and you can berate me like your sister. Then I can hear how you're doing, which is all I really want to do,” he added sincerely with a small, hopeful smile.

“You have time for that?” she quipped sardonically. The sting was gone from her voice and she was regarding him with a spark of humour in her eyes.

Leo glanced at his watch again. “No, probably not but we'll try it anyway.”

Cadence nodded. “Alright and I'm not going to berate you. I'm not taking sides, mom says it's gotten better over the past few months and Mal told me she's already apologised to you for getting angry. I told her things were complex, that she couldn't get angry until she'd done your job herself.”

Leo's smile warmed with gratitude. “Thanks Cady, nice to know someone in this family is trying to understand.”

Cadence smiled back. “You were expecting more hostility.”

“Well you do tend to give it,” Leo reminded her.

Cadence turned her gaze ahead and halted suddenly as she fixed a blank expression to her face.

Leo, puzzled, stopped beside her and glanced ahead as well. He resisted a frown at the sight of the Vice President leading his small entourage of staff. He moved much like a peacock strutting around with its harem, showing off its pride and yet barely concealing its unease of a predator coming along to present a threat.

Vice President John Hoynes should have felt right at home in the White House grounds given his status but he was no fool. There was an obvious hostility between him and the president, one which had spread down to the president's team making Hoynes' a wary target for them.

Despite the complicated relationship between John and Jed, Leo still respected the V.P. For all his defence mechanisms, Leo had found the vulnerability in John, the weakness for drink Leo had himself and one which John chose to share with him and offer him help for. As work colleagues they might be at odds but on a personal level there was a likeability between them, it wasn't friendship but it was something that would last.

Leo wondered as the V.P approached them if he even remembered the former student who had used his campaign for work experience before vanishing in the disgrace of an ill-written thesis. Leo doubted it. Although Josh had told him that Cadence certainly did more for John than simply file and pour the coffee there had been numerous figures on the Hoynes' campaign and then even more when he had joined up with Jed's campaign. What was one student who yes had potential but hadn't even delivered much in the end?

John halted as he spied the Chief of Staff. His cobalt eyes darted briefly to the young woman beside Leo.

“Good afternoon Mr Vice President,” Leo greeted cheerfully as he stepped forward, trying to make the distance between them less imposing.

John gave a single nod. “Good afternoon Leo,” he retorted politely.

“Mr Vice President may I introduce my daughter to you and your staff,” Leo said as he gestured to Cadence briskly with his left hand. “This is Cadence McGarry, my youngest.”

Cadence fixed a polite but meaningless smile to her face. Her ritual rebirth had begun.

“Cady, the one who compared the lofty white walls of the White House to a Roman palace, I remember,” John retorted with a faint smile.

Leo couldn't hide the surprise from his blue stare as he heard John address his daughter in such a familiar manner.

“We call our president commander-in-chief,” John spoke, addressing them clearly as he glanced back at his team to make sure they listened too. “The Romans too spoke of command, their unelected emperor Tiberius stated 'To have command is to have all the power you will ever need. To have all the power you will ever need, is to have the world in the palm of your hand.'”

Cadence smiled up at her father savagely. “And you said my essay was forgotten,” she remarked with false cheer. “Mr Vice President, I'm flattered that you can quote me,” she added as she turned her hostile smile on the deputy leader.

“And you said you didn't remember how white the walls were but that you remember,” Leo grumbled. He was looking at John with a hint of annoyance in his blue stare knowing that the vice president had mocked his daughter. Worse, he had de-evolved her, as if she couldn't have improved since her youth.

John gave a small grin before turning back to his team. “Cady is your predecessor,” he informed them, “she started out on work experience within my campaign team. Articulate and very opinionated as I recall.” He turned his attention back to the young woman and fixed a keen blue-grey gaze upon her. “What are you doing with yourself now?” he pried.

“Father-daughter day at work,” she retorted, still cheerful in tone although her manner was slightly dismissive.

There were a few brief chuckles from the small cluster of waiting men behind John. Just like him they had the look of power. They were tall, confident in their stance, cocky eyed and clad in the armour of politicians- a designer business suit. Despite there being a mingling of sameness about them in their dark attires and neat combed hairstyles, John stood out as the leader of the pack.

John was that little bit more assured than his followers and had an aggression to his cerulean stare, ready to devour any who threatened him. It was a strength he needed here having too many enemies to fall to.

“She's kidding,” Leo said swiftly.

Leo could feel the anger of the defensive parent rising in him and knew he had to quash it. “We're meeting the president and we have a tight time schedule. Mr Vice President it was good to see you and we won't delay you any longer,” Leo made it clear in his tone that he was making a dismissal instead of a farewell.

Leo raised a hand to his daughter's shoulder and pushed her forward gently.

“Bye Leo,” John retorted politely. “Bye Cady.” His piercing stare was still on her, as if he might decipher the answer to his question about her work from just a look.

“Bye...Mr Vice President,” Cadence retorted awkwardly, stumbling over the words as she did. She flashed a quick smile. “I got too used to saying senator,” she explained swiftly, “I guess it's still hard to believe the change,” she added pointedly.

Leo looked away to hide his smile. Sure he liked John but that didn't mean he didn't like seeing him humbled on the odd occasion and John certainly deserved it after mocking Cadence the way he had.

Cadence walked on, poised, head raised and shoulders back, showing almost the same elegance as her mother and sister.

John noticed the betraying scurry of her feet as his eyes drifted down to her legs. Her black court shoes moved almost in a blur as she moved in a power walk, just a pace away from a jog, barely constrained by her slim black skirt. He smiled again, amused that she was nervous despite her insult and felt a need to flee from it before he could respond.

Leo and Cadence headed for the Oval Office. They paused to greet Mrs. Landingham, the president's personal secretary.

The shrewd woman gave Cadence the subtle, barely exposed look she gave every newcomer to the office before offering her a disarming smile.

“Good afternoon Leo,” she greeted warmly, “and this is your youngest yes, Miss McGarry, good afternoon.”

Cadence, who had been staring round the pale gold and peach room with awe, returned her attention to the secretary and smiled back. “That's me, good afternoon.”

“Cadence this is Mrs. Landingham, Mrs. Landingham this is Cadence,” Leo introduced as he gestured from one to the other. “Is he free Mrs. Landingham?”

“Now Leo you know that's a silly question,” the woman scolded him in a dry tone, “the president is never truly free, is he?” She glanced from behind her large glasses to Cadence to reveal a sparkle of humour in her blue gaze.

Cadence's smile widened as she felt a little of her nerves slip away.

“Mrs. Landingham he is expecting us,” Leo retorted as he avoided rising to the debate.

The woman nodded. “You can go in, he's alone,” she permitted.

“Good.”

Leo smiled expectantly at his daughter. “Ready?”

She nodded, telling herself that the title might be president but the man was Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet, a man she had known before all this as a family friend.

When Leo opened the heavy wooden door and granted her entry to the Oval Office her sense of familiarity vanished.

Cadence was awestruck as she entered the room and looked to the man who was simultaneously two men in one- Jed Bartlet and Mr. President. She swallowed hard and felt her throat turn dry. A man she had disgraced almost as much as her father though neither men had come to know the truth of that. She hoped they never would but now as she crossed the threshold and entered a room strangely both hostile and friendly to her, she feared it was only a matter of time before they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm re-watching The West Wing and I couldn't resist attempting a fanfic full of political intrigue, scandal and drama plus John Hoynes who's somehow so devious and yet likeable.  
I'm a Brit so forgive any terms I get wrong and any political inaccuracies, I do my best.


	2. Meet and Greet

Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet, Democrat President of the United States, scrutinised Cadence McGarry not just with the weight of the White House but that of a close family friend, which Cadence was considering might actually be worse.

Cadence was transfixed she looked at the man as if she were seeking out the hidden picture in a colourful illusion. He was a family friend but now he was also the president, it was two things she was struggling to fit together and she was trying to see where either Jed was hidden in the president or the president was hidden in Jed.

Jed had never been a tall or muscular man and yet he had always stood a measure above most men with an aura of power that came from within. As intimidating as he could be there was a warmth and charm to him too, and a sense that he carried an almost forgotten, wholesome belief in the world and its people.

It was this faith of Jed's that made Cadence anxious as she stood taller than him and yet felt much smaller. She could see the warmth of welcome brightening his blue eyes and his lips curling up into a smile that told her he was happy for her presence. Already she felt the weight of an expectation she knew she could not live up to.

Leo McGarry felt some of his fears wash away at Jed's smile. He knew Jed well but had felt a certain caution over presenting Cadence to him despite it being by Jed's request. Jed still hadn't forgiven Hoynes for his actions during the election race so why should Leo assume anyone on Hoynes' team had been forgiven?

“Cady you've gotten better with age unlike your father,” Jed greeted her cheerfully as he stepped towards her and parted his hands slightly. “Has he given you the tour yet?”

Cadence shook her head. “No um...Mr. President.” She flashed an awkward smile. “Sorry, I'm having a little trouble getting used to titles today.”

Jed looked at her with confusion before his puzzled blue gaze darted over to Leo.

Leo suppressed a sigh, he had hoped not to conjure memories of Cadence doing work experience with John Hoynes so soon. “We passed the Vice President,” he explained.

“Ah.” Jed's smile dimmed slightly and he lowered his hands. “And was he his usual agreeable self?” he quipped with a touch of mockery to his tone.

“He was fine Mr. President,” Cadence retorted quickly before her father could disagree. “I hadn't really intended on a meet and greet.”

“But you're going to do it anyway because that's what Leo wants, right?” Jed quipped as humour filled his face again. “And we both know how difficult it is to say no to your father.” He talked fast and loud, just as Cadence remembered, direct with a firmness to his voice even with the joviality attached to it.

“Do we?” Leo quipped as he smiled. “You seem to manage it well enough sir.”

“Not without effort. Enough of that,” Jed swept his hands outwards dismissively. “Cady I want to find out how you've been,” he said as he turned his merry stare back on the young woman. He glanced at his watch. “Can I meet with you both in an hour and we'll do that? I'd do it now but in this office work comes first and I am told there is some matter of a law regarding labour to discuss.”

“That's fine Mr. President, assuming we can all keep to schedule,” Leo answered with a suggestion of scorn to his tone. “I'm going to take Cady to meet our team,” he added a little more optimistically.

Jed caught Leo's stare and read the sudden sternness in it as Leo guessed that Jed wanted to tack on 'again' to Leo's sentence. Jed simply nodded before offering Cadence another smile. He understood why Leo wanted to act like meeting the team was a new experience for Cadence.

“Well that should be fun but first, tell me Cady, do you know who came up with this office?” Jed quipped.

Cadence smiled back as she felt a welcome wave of familiarity at last. Jed had always been fond of trivia and in a way, she realised, she had missed his often random and unexpected questions and facts about things. “President Theodore Roosevelt,” she retorted, “or more correctly, his wife Edith.”

Jed beamed at her. “Very good.”

“On that note, we'll see you soon Mr. President,” Leo interjected.

“Indeed you will. Oh, be sure to get a cookie from Mrs. Landingham, Cady, she's very favourable in giving them out to new visitors, after that you have to work hard to earn one,” Jed advised.

Cadence looked confused. “Um is this cookie figurative or metaphorical?” she quipped.

Jed let out a loud laugh at this whilst Leo frowned.

“It's real enough, come on,” Leo urged his daughter.

Leo guided Cadence out of the oval office and back to Mrs. Landingham's station.

The elderly blonde woman remained seated at her desk, occupied with a small, neat pile of letters until Leo and Cadence arrived. She looked up and regarded Cadence with a kind stare. “Well, was it as impressive as you hoped?” she queried.

“The man or the room Mrs. Landingham?” Leo queried.

Cadence smiled back at the woman. “Very pleasant for a work environment,” she retorted, “certainly better than some offices I've been in, although maybe a degree too warm for my liking.”

“And here we are with the sarcasm again,” Leo scorned as he frowned at her.

Mrs. Landingham smiled but it was hard to say if she was amused by Cadence's response or dismissive of it.

“Would you like a cookie dear?” Mrs. Landingham asked. She reached out a hand to the glass cookie jar on the end of her desk, lifting her lid to expose trivial treats that were treated like gold dust in the West Wing.

Cadence eyed them up with little interest. “I'm sorry, I only like the ones with raisins,” she confessed. “Sorry,” she repeated again, thinking of how Jed had advised of their value.

“Oh dear, I've only chocolate.” Mrs. Landingham returned the lid to its rightful place. “Never mind, I'll get some more for next time.”

“Um.” Cadence swallowed down the desire to state that there wasn't going to be a next time, wary of offending her father by it. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate a chance to view the White House in such detail, it was just the current staff was a little troubling for her.

“Let''s go meet the others,” Leo said. “At this rate it will be dark before we get to them. See you later Mrs. Landingham.”

“Bye Leo.” Mrs. Landingham smiled up at Cadence again. “I'll see you later Miss McGarry.”

Cadence bristled slightly at the title. For so long she had gone as 'Ms. O'Brien' it was a little odd hearing the McGarry title of her youth.

“Bye,” she said softly in an attempt to smooth over her obvious unease.

Cadence turned and followed her father dutifully from the room and into the thicket of the West Wing. She felt a mixture of intrigue and unease as their surroundings started to thrive with activity. It was almost like a first day at work, there was all the curiosity of seeing new colleagues and office spaces and all the fear of what you didn't know coupled with the phobia of screwing up on the first day.

Cadence reminded herself that she had already botched the first impression with most of these people and figured since that was the case there was no point in her fear. With that in mind, she adapted a swing to her step, following after her father with a renewed enthusiasm.

Leo didn't know whether re-introductions would be better one on one with people so Cadence wasn't intimidated, or as a group so she could get everyone out of the road in one fell sweep. As he spied an unusually crowded office ahead he realised he wasn't going to have to make the decision. The gossip circle was in full swing and he could easily guess at the topic of discussion.

Leo quickened his pace so that he could have a few seconds to give warning to the office gathering before Cadence followed him through and perhaps overheard something less than favourable.

Leo opened the office door just in time to hear the Deputy Chief of Staff remark loudly, “they should really reconsider letting people vote for tarring and feathering as a punishment.”

“Josh that's a little medieval and just a touch psychotic for someone in the White House to suggest,” Leo interrupted bluntly.

Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman turned rapidly in a moment of obvious panic. He fixed a nervous smile to his face for his boss before he spied the young woman arriving behind him. His smile vanished and his brown eyes struggled to settle on neutrality as a wash of emotions trickled through them.

Leo fixed his hands behind his back as he regarded Josh and the three others who were with him with a careful, warning gaze.

“Everyone I would like you to say a nice hello to my daughter, Cadence McGarry. Cadence, I would like you to say an equally nice hello back,” Leo commanded cheerfully.

Cadence stepped fully into the office. It was a small office space, crowded with files, a desk clustered with notes and now six human beings. Despite being a part of the West Wing it was entirely unremarkable in appearance having the same cliches of most offices- the obligatory clock on the wall, a computer desk complete with a phone and sullied with post-its and pages scattered in a form that could be nominated as an expression of modern art, and the weary sense of a never ending workload. All that was missing was the sad office plant and the cold, forgotten cup of coffee.

“Hello,” Josh said quickly as his brown stare shifted from the woman to Leo.

“Hi there,” C.J Cregg was next to greet. Her tone was lighter and she even managed a smile for the woman.

C.J had joined the team from Hollywood in its early campaign days, coming at Toby's behest and rising to the lofty heights of White House press secretary. The truth was C.J couldn't even recall Cadence and knew about her only the exaggerated tales Josh had fed them this afternoon.

C.J glanced the woman up and down quickly, trying to spy the similarities she shared with her father.

Cadence smiled back at C.J as she spied the curiosity in the woman's small blue stare. She recalled C.J well enough, they had met only briefly but she had given a lasting impression of a woman full of determination to find success in an unfamiliar world.

“Hi I'm Sam,” Sam Seaborn, Deputy White House Communications Director, greeted as he stepped forward. He held out a hand before rethinking the gesture and pausing to push his round glasses up his nose.

“She knows,” Josh murmured dryly. He was resting his hands on his hips in a hostile manner as his gaze continued to dart between Cadence and Leo.

“Hi,” Toby finished the greetings sombrely. He was Sam's boss, the White House Communications Director.

“Hello,” Cadence retorted. She glanced over to her father. “Is this part where I say my name, how old I am and what I want to be when I grow up?” she queried mockingly.

Leo smiled as he refused to be baited by her. “That's not a bad idea actually, what do you want to be?” he pried. “Because your mother and sister won't tell me.”

“Well sure isn't Mal still in the fourth grade, maybe you should ask what she wants to be when she grows up,” Cadence commented mischievously as she smiled over at Sam.

Sam felt the heat of embarrassment wash over him as Toby gave a soft, brief chuckle. He stepped back and frowned.

Leo turned his pale blue gaze back on his team. He had known this would be a disaster, it was unavoidable, all he could hope for was that it was a minor one and not a catastrophe.

“Cadence has, at long last, decided to visit me,” Leo explained to his team, “and I thought it would be nice to get her acquainted with the people I work with.”

“Why?” Josh queried bluntly. He flinched at the glower Leo sent his way and realised he had spoken without thinking.

“Because that's how taking your daughter to work day works,” Cadence scolded him as she turned her smirk his way.

Josh frowned back at her as he felt a childish urge to stick his tongue out at her. It had been two years since he had last seen the woman and yet seeing her again made him think it was far from long enough.

“Is that a thing in the White House?” Toby queried. “Because I would imagine the Secret Service taking issue with that.”

“She's joking Toby,” Leo informed him flatly.

“Relax guys, I'm only here to see my dad,” Cadence remarked, “and we have to meet with the president later and we have dinner plans, I don't really have time to fit a scandal into all that.”

“Cadence,” Leo chided her sharply.

“You owe me five bucks Sam,” Josh commented as he turned to face Sam.

“What for?” Leo demanded angrily.

Josh tensed up and refrained from looking at his boss as he answered, “a completely unrelated matter Leo. I lent Sam money for...” He trailed off as he struggled for a lie.

Cadence folded her arms and looked at Josh. “You bet on how long it would take for me to say something inappropriate, didn't you?” Cadence accused.

Josh continued to remain as he was, noticeably stiff with his back to Cadence and his boss, a desperate gaze upon Sam as he hoped his friend wouldn't blunder into it like usual and might cast him a lifeline.

“It was just...well...” Sam began awkwardly.

Cadence shrugged. “Sam don't pay him,” she advised brightly. “Mentioning a scandal isn't the same as actually committing one nor is it inappropriate to simply say the word scandal. I said I've to meet with the president soon, didn't I? Give it time, wait it out and maybe you'll earn that valuable five bucks. As for you Josh, I'm very disappointed you didn't make it more than that.”

Cadence glanced at her father and saw he was trying very hard not to give into his anger for Josh, Sam and his daughter. “I did the meet and greet dad now let's see your office,” she suggested.

Leo pulled back from his rage at his daughter's words. “Right.” He gave the small group a telling look of disappointment before ushering his daughter from the office.

Josh waited exactly a full minute before speaking. “Well she hasn't changed,” he scorned.

C.J folded her arms as she looked down at Josh scornfully. “How on earth can you tell that?” she demanded. She gestured one hand out towards the now closed door. “That was what, all of two minutes greeting?”

“I can tell,” Josh said confidently.

“You know Josh it was just an essay,” Toby piped up, “it's not like she burned the flag.”

“Toby did you read the essay?” Josh demanded as he looked at his colleague in disbelief.

“No Josh,” Toby admitted, “I was a little preoccupied with other things at the time, like winning a presidential campaign.”

“Well you should read it,” Josh grumbled as he waved his hand out dramatically in Toby's direction, “you should.”

“Why? She was a student when she wrote it and isn't it entirely possible that it wasn't her opinion but simply the response to a thesis question?” Toby suggested. He was giving Josh a weary look like the younger man was unhinged.

“No because if it was she could have said so and you have to consider the timing of it,” Josh argued, “to release that right when President Bartlet's campaign was gaining momentum.”

“Hoynes,” C.J corrected automatically. She was glancing at her watch now.

“What?” Josh retorted. He moved with a surge of energy as he turned to face C.J.

“Hoynes,” she repeated calmly as she lowered her watch and looked at Josh, “you said President Bartlet's campaign but Cadence's thesis was exposed while she was still on Hoynes' campaign team.”

“Yes but it had lost momentum because it lost me,” Josh said smugly. “It was Bartlet's campaign she risked damaging, especially since it came out that she was Leo's daughter at the same time.”

“I really don't think she intended any of that,” C.J commented neutrally. “I mean it ruined her career prospects too.”

“Well not by much,” Sam said quietly. “I mean Hoynes lost, I suppose her prospect was that she could have joined his staff in the White House.”

Josh let out a loud, almost panicked laugh at this before shaking his head.

“I know I ask this often of you,” Toby spoke up in a deadpan manner as he eyeballed Josh again, “but do you need help?”

“Me?” Josh clapped a hand to his chest, creasing his blue shirt slightly as he looked to Toby in disbelief. “Not me Toby.” He pointed to the door with one finger. “That traitor who walked out of here, maybe she needs the help.”

“Josh you are being way too dramatic about this,” Sam scorned him. “C.J is right, Cadence hardly intended for her identity or thesis to be exposed at that time and it was two years ago. Be nice, for Leo's sake,” he advised in a gentle tone.

“Mallory's you mean,” Josh grumbled back. “I'm onto you Sam, you're afraid of what she'll say to her sister.”

Sam frowned as he felt his cheeks heat up again. “I don't know what you mean.”

“Anyway,” Toby interrupted, “I think we all have better things to be doing right now.”

“Like coming up with an appropriate grovelling strategy for Leo?” C.J quipped.

Toby shrugged as he walked towards the door. “I was just going to blame it all on Josh and say he influenced us.”

“Works for me,” Sam said as he followed after him.

C.J's face brightened at this. “Good idea Toby,” she enthused cheerfully.

“Hey no!” Josh protested as he followed after them. “Bad idea Toby, bad idea!”

“You are the one who blundered into it,” Toby pointed out as he entered the busy corridor. “You're also the one who made Cadence out to be some sort of boogeywoman to half the staff round here. You're already doomed with regards to Leo, have the dignity not to drag the rest of down with you.”

“What?” Josh flustered as the group dispersed and headed in different directions. “She's only here two minutes and she's already causing problems,” he grumbled loudly.

“Josh who are you talking to?” Josh's chirpy, blonde assistant Donna Moss had arrived on the scene. She had come quickly, hurrying as rumour reached her of Cadence's arrival. “You know, talking to yourself isn't quirky, it's crazy,” she berated him.

“Donna I don't have time for this,” Josh retorted as he raised his hands up into his short, light auburn tinged brown curls dramatically. “I need to work out how to fight a girl, in a work manner I mean,” he added quickly as he saw Donna's look of disgust, “or type up my resignation.”

Josh pulled his palms slowly down his pale cheeks before dropping his hands down to his sides again.

“So she's here then, the mysterious Cadence McGarry,” Donna marvelled with a smile. “What's she like? The way you talked about her I'm expecting horns.”

“Yeah and a pointed tail and a pitchfork to stab you in the back with,” Josh grumbled. He started walking, heading for his office. “Leo is a saint Donna but his daughter is the devil,” he advised.


	3. That Familial Feeling

Cadence surveyed her surroundings in the hotel dining room for the umpteenth time. She felt entirely out of place, knowing she was undressed for the occasion and sensing that more than one of the guests and the staff were eyeballing wondering who she was and what her connection to the better attired Leo was.

Leo, pretending to peruse a menu he was all too familiar with, kept sneaking glances over the table at his daughter. He observed her unease and wondered why she had chosen now to appear out of the woodwork. Leo suspected her sister might have had a hand in that and hoped he wouldn't have long to find out.

It was approaching seven in the evening and yet the dining room was still hiving with activity. The low hum of classical music from unseen speakers and the bright glow from the chandeliers above created an ambience of extravagance. White linen adorned the tables and Cadence had already managed to prove the downside of that by staining her side with a telling pale yellow smudge of the ironically named white wine.

“Good evening,” the cheerful voice of Mallory O'Brien called out.

Mallory arrived full of movement, walking on black high heels with a quick step, waving to Cadence and Leo's table with one hand, a slight cock of her head and a wide, bright smile.

Mallory O'Brien embodied beauty, elegance, cheer and charm which made her a natural in her role as a public school teacher. Like her father and sister she possessed an edge, a sternness and stubbornness that she often used when going into battle to defend the rights of public education against private.

Cadence's grey-blue eyes darted up to her sister before turning a knowing gaze on her father.

Leo gestured his hands out in a dismissive gesture. “She was in the area and she asked if you were here,” he said as he smiled, “what, you didn't want me to invite your own sister to dinner?”

Cadence smiled back even as she shook her head. “And so the inquisition begins,” she commented softly.

“Don't be dramatic,” Mallory remarked chirpily as she halted by the table and removed her coat.

She exposed an admirable hourglass figure in a tight, cream sweater and a long, crimson skirt.

As Mallory occupied her seat she leaned down in her sister's direction and remarked, “we are all entitled to ask what you've been up to Cadence. It's been over a year since I've even seen you and your letters weren't exactly detailed.”

Mallory turned her attention to the approaching waiter and ordered a glass of wine. She turned a dark look of scrutiny back on her sister when the waiter was gone.

Mallory reached out a hand and grasped a strand of Cadence's unevenly blonde tipped, tawny hair.

“Well let's see, longer hair, you can see the dye at the bottom, you need that cut and coloured Cady Cat,” Mallory scorned her.

“Gee thanks mom,” Cadence retorted sardonically with a roll of her eyes.

Mallory released the hair and continued to study her sister. “You're thin looking too.” She frowned as concern crept into her brown stare. “Cadence what have you been doing?” she queried sternly.

“Oh full title,” Cadence continued with the sardonic sneer. “Well Mallory I've been doing a lot, which I need to get back to after this...” She waved her hands outwards at the table. “Reunion, intervention, checking in, whatever this is.”

The waiter returned with a glass of wine for Mallory. “Are you ready to order?” he queried.

Leo glanced over at his daughters questioningly. When they got along they were a formidable force but when they fought it was catastrophic and he often left the peace making to Jenny. He found himself wishing for his wife tonight just in case the light bickering turned into a real fight. He realised with a sudden pang that it was the first he had really missed Jenny's presence. With his current career Leo hadn't really had the free time to think of her and truth be told he had embraced the distractions of work to keep Jenny from his mind but now, with both their children before him, she was back to the forefront of his mind.

“Ladies?” Leo queried.

Mallory glanced to the menu briefly. She had shared enough lunches and dinners with her father here to have the just of it. She ordered the house soup for a starter and fish for her main with potatoes on the side.

“Cady you'd better get two courses and a side,” Mallory ordered, “you're practically skin and bones.”

“I think some malnourished orphans in Africa would beg to differ,” Cadence scorned darkly to her menu.

Leo frowned as Cadence moved from indifference to anger. “Cadence that's inappropriate,” he chided her quietly. “Just order something please,” he added before she could argue with him, “it's on me anyway.”

Cadence stared at the menu with a frown but she wasn't really making an effort to take in the choices. “Soup's fine,” she muttered, “and then the chicken,” she said as she gestured to a chicken based dish on the menu.

The waiter, who had mastered an expression of discretion despite Cadence's comment, nodded and turned his attention to Leo.

Leo ordered quickly and gave the waiter a nod of thanks as he handed his menu over.

Leo placed his hands upon the table and clasped them together. “Mallory, Cadence I want this to be a nice reunion dinner,” he said firmly, “it's been too long since the three of us have spent anytime together.”

Mallory and Cadence both looked across to their father protestingly.

The table was round and comfortable for four and yet to Leo the gap between him and his children suddenly didn't seem wide enough. He felt horribly alone on his side and entirely defenceless with only a bread bowl and napkin holder for a barrier.

Leo held up one palm to them before they could object. “Cadence we all want to know how you have been and unless you have been carrying out some top secret missions I think you can tell us something. Mallory that doesn't entitle you to pick holes in her choices, it's a conversation not an interview.”

Leo lowered his hands and looked at the pair expectantly.

Both women reached for their glasses of wine simultaneously and cast ugly looks outwards to the dining room as they took deep gulps.

“Well this is good,” Leo murmured sarcastically, “I'm recently outed as an alcoholic and the moment my daughters dine out with me they choose to drink instead of talk. I'm sure no one is going to make a story out of this.”

Cadence snorted into her glass before she could help it. She lowered the glass to the table and regarded her father with a smile.

“Sorry dad,” she apologised sincerely. “It's just you're as argumentative and dramatic as we are. I don't think anyone is going to make a story because we're having wine at dinner. Now if Mallory should end up stripping on the table-”

“Or if Cadence should sing and stumble her way out of here,” Mallory interrupted loudly.

Cadence's smile widened. “Then there's a story,” she concluded.

The two sisters looked to each other and laughed.

Mallory leaned over and embraced her younger sibling quickly. “Cady Cat I've really missed you,” she said seriously as she squeezed Cadence close and almost choked her in an odour of flowery perfume. “Honestly, it's been hard without you, I've missed you and your music, and I'm sorry for telling you off but I have been so worried.”

Cadence nodded as she raised her arms to embrace Mallory loosely. “I know,” she retorted quietly, “but I had to go.”

Leo stiffened at those words, knowing he was part of the cause behind the truth of them. He hadn't intervened to stand by her when her thesis had become public knowledge, he hadn't tried to smooth it over and he hadn't done much when she had left, hell he hadn't even really noticed she was gone from her home until three months or so.

“Well you're not going again,” Mallory remarked sternly as she broke from the embrace, “we need you here.”

Cadence gave a pained look at this. “No you don't, you really don't,” she remarked seriously. “Look I was just checking in.” She glanced over at their father again. “Because of the separation and the...press,” she turned a knowing gaze back on Mallory, “and because you pestered the life out of me.” She gestured to Mallory with one hand as her stare flickered back to Leo again. “Daily calls dad, harassment.”

Leo smiled. “You've been gone a while Cadence, I'm sure Mal just wanted to ensure you definitely came back. She's right,” he added as his stare turned serious, “we do need you. I've missed you and I'm not going to let you dart off when you've only been back for a day.”

Cadence looked at them pleadingly. “I don't have a life here, you both have homes and careers here, I gave that all up.”

“Well where is your home then?” Mallory pried. “And what's your career?”

Cadence dipped her head as she felt embarrassment crawl through her. Her hand reached out for the wine again and she drained the glass. “I have an ad hoc life,” she murmured.

“Well it's time you settled then,” Mallory interjected swiftly. “You have a lot of talent and skills Cadence, it won't be hard to put them to use and find you something here.”

Cadence suppressed an urge to groan and instead turned the now empty glass about in her hand by its stem. She studied it carefully, watching as gold light beams sparkled and fractured through it.

“I don't want a pity job,” Cadence protested.

“No you wanted a White House job,” Mallory said as she glanced her father's way, “and yes, you stumbled towards that but you're here now and only twenty-three so let's not talk like you're past it.”

Cadence smirked slightly at the word 'stumbled'.

“I think I'm a little young and very under-qualified,” she retorted bitterly, “and my past record probably goes against me.” She released the sigh this time. “Besides, the press would call it nepotism surely.”

“To hell with them,” Mallory dismissed brightly.

“Mallory,” Leo berated her.

“Look, let's just have a nice dinner like you said,” Cadence pleaded.

“Alright,” Mallory gave in, “but one last thing, where are you staying tonight?”

Cadence set down the glass. “In a hotel I guess.”

“You guess?” Mallory echoed.

“Cadence where are your things?” Leo piped up with a look of concern.

Leo realised how neglectful he had been. Cadence had arrived out of nowhere, barely announced, after over a year of absence, and he had never considered the things Mallory was asking her. He had gone with the assumption that Cadence was somehow alright and able to stand on her own two feet, she was young after all and the scandal of the thesis had long since faded away and in the greater scheme of things it had been minor but, what Leo had pushed aside, was the ugly truth of Cadence's character.

Cadence wasn't always able to stand alone, just as her father had his dark addictions for escapism so did she. She opted for pain and violence, choosing masochism as a form of control. If she felt her life was spiralling sometimes she couldn't take hold of it, sometimes she just blanked it out, moving from distraction to distraction as a means of avoiding the reality. Cadence could be suicidal in more than one way, she would seek out danger as an attempt to punish herself for some imagined wrong doing, or she would harm herself feeling she deserved the pain.

Leo filled with guilt again as he realised he had ignored the possibility that Cadence might have rushed to danger after the thesis' exposure as a means of punishing herself. He had kept loose tabs on her, ensuring himself that she was alive and that if her situation turned dire he would know about it but that wasn't parenting, that was barely more than indifference. Sure she was sitting alive before him but how did he know what she had really went through these past couple of years?

“You can't go again,” Leo said sternly. “Mal's right, you're young, you're talented, you need to be near your family and you need to start getting the career you deserve. This thesis business got out of hand and I let it, I'm sorry Cady, I owe you better than that. Jed's in power now, we're secure and I'm going to make amends, I should've stood by you when this happened, when he wasn't secure but...”

“But this is the most important thing you'll ever do,” Cadence retorted quietly.

“Your mother told you what I said,” Leo remarked as the guilt continued to burn through him.

Cadence nodded. “I understand dad and so does she, better than you think.”

Leo was relieved not to have to respond as their starters arrived.

Mallory gestured to her now empty glass and Cadence's. “More wine please,” she said.

She regarded her sister and father with a smile. “Alright, we're agreeing on this, Cadence stays, everything else, the job, housing etc. is semantics but she stays, that's what matters. So, we're going to move on from that and be a little happier because this is a good thing.”

Cadence frowned at her sister with a cross glint in her gaze. “You're not my teacher Mal,” she complained, “you can't give me orders.”

“Cadence it's obvious you have no real belongings, income or home and given your skills in life I'm not sure if that's laziness or apathy,” Mallory told her sibling off with the tone she reserved for her pupils, “but you need an intervention to sort it and dad and I are going to make that happen so suck it up and accept it because if you try to escape dad will use the Secret Service to bring you back.”

“That's sounding a little like kidnapping and imprisonment,” Cadence chided.

“Just a little, Mal ease up on the threats,” Leo murmured. “And let's not suggest the Secret Service should be used to forcefully detain family members of mine, the press and your president might take a dim view on that.”

Mallory smiled angelically at her father. “I was just joking although I think they could make an exception.”

Cadence, accepting defeat temporarily, allowed the dinner to wind on in a more pleasant manner.

By the end of their meal Cadence felt a little better, perhaps because of the pleasure of a proper feed and a few glasses of wine or maybe it was because she hadn't seen her family in so long. She chalked it to a combination of reasons and chose to relax and welcome the warm glow filling her.

When Mallory insisted Cadence spend the night at her home she didn't argue too hard about it either. She simply said it was only going to be for the night and left the matter at that.

At the end of the meal the sisters dutifully thanked their father for paying before hugging him goodbye and departing for Mallory's.

Leo watched his children go with a sense of pride. Sure they were no more perfect than he was but for all their flaws they were damn close to it. He and Jenny might have parted ways but he was so grateful they had made and raised such fine daughters before doing so. Feeling more at ease knowing that at least for the evening Cadence was in Mallory's care and couldn't get up to too much trouble under her sister's watchful eye, he retreated to his hotel room with a sense of happiness and relief.

Leo knew it would be short lived, he could woken at any point during the night depending on how the world spun and the woes of mankind would thrust him back into work mode as he rushed to the president's side to deal with a new disaster. Until then he could rejoice in the role of a father and rest easy knowing that at last his girls were together and safe under one roof.

\---

The morning began just after six, a later than usual start for Leo who was often used to being called around five to get the briefing of the day's expected events. Time differences across the world meant the realm of the president never stopped, so long as people lived and breathed there was always something happening.

What had alarmed Jed slightly upon coming to office but hadn't really shocked Leo was learning how many near disasters and troubles the general public were protected from by the office. How many almost wars had been avoided without the American people even knowing of a skirmish. How often doomsday had threatened to appear on the horizon before being diverted for another day by the actions of glib tongued politicians, the FBI, the CIA, or the armed forces.

It was surprising the numbers of battles fought with words rather than weapons and how many wars had started over a slip of the tongue or being avoided by a smooth talker. Wars were waged on the battlefield for sure but also in Congress.

This morning's current issue was gun control. A senator in Texas had raised his ugly head by publicly condemning the bill passed on tightening the sales of automatic firearms. That was old news except now apparently he had built from this platform and was running with it. He had scorned the president as a liberal who had no respect for the majority of the people because they had none for him, he had then cited the uncomfortable truth that the public had wanted the Republican party in and the president was without a mandate. Josiah Bartlet had been the choice of the Electoral College, not the people.

Jed was starting his day in foul form. It was obvious what he wanted to do, trot his Texan VP out to smooth over the situation. What was more obvious was that was not what Vice President Hoynes wanted to do.

John had delivered a crucial vote on restricting the sale of automatic firearms but it had been more of a self-serving political manoeuvrer on his part than a gracious offer of help to his President. Overall, John wasn't a supporter of harsh gun restrictions and he certainly wasn't going to be seen chiding someone from his own state over it.

John was meant to deliver Texas for the White House but because Jed had been so openly mocking of the gold star state and its 'Wild West' ways they had lost it. The loss was one of the reasons why Jed dismissed John and so often grew angry with him.

Leo stood attentively in the Oval Office as Jed complained about the Vice President.

“He'll do what he's told Leo,” Jed grumbled.

“He's not a child,” Leo reminded him calmly.

Outside the morning was bright and sunny with a slight chill in the air but inside the atmosphere was stormy as Jed's anger pooled into the room

Jed frowned over at Leo. “He's a Texan, he's the only one for this job and damn it, he's going to earn his bread around here.”

“His bread sir?”

Jed's eyes widened with rage. “Damn it Leo I'm cranky, I haven't slept well, I need coffee and I don't want to hear about some cowboy suited senator trying to make waves about guns like he's some Indians to defend his land against!”

Leo placed his hands behind his back and took a step forward. “Do you ever think it's that kind of talk that made you lose Texas?” he queried politely.

Jed pointed at him crossly. “Texas was John's responsibility, his main responsibility and he messed it up!”

Jed turned from Leo and stormed to the heavy wooden door of the office, flinging it open dramatically to Mrs. Landingham's domain.

“Mrs. Landingham can I get some coffee?” he snapped sharply.

Mrs. Landingham looked up at him with a smile that was sweetness and light but a sharp blue gaze that promised scorn and regret for whomever challenged her. “Certainly sir but why won't you use the intercom to talk to me?” she queried politely.

“It's more efficient opening the door,” he grumbled.

“No it's not sir, just admit you can't use it.”

“Mrs. Landingham not now, just get me coffee,” he complained.

“Men in the morning, never pleasant or polite. I'll get your coffee and maybe you'll be less snippy.”

“I'm not snippy,” he retorted as he turned and charged back into the office, pulling the door shut behind him. “Am I snippy?” he queried as he looked to Leo for validation.

“At times sir.”

“You're as bad as her,” Jed grumbled as he gestured to the door with one hand.

Leo knew it was time to change the topic, at least for now. “Sir, can we put aside the matter of Texas for a moment?”

“Well Leo I wish we could but the American people might get mad if Texas vanished from the map,” Jed jested grimly.

Jed strode back to the heavy set wooden desk of the president and took a seat in the black, leather chair. It was the crème de la crème of executive offices, everything was shiny and expensive. The desk was a work of art with its ornate carvings, a reminder of the wealth of the office whilst its heavy weight demonstrated how the president could not be easily moved. The seat was comfortable enough but no lazy boy, a reminder that it was not an office for relaxing in but one for someone to sit up straight and be seen as serious.

For Jed it was more than an office, he spent so long in here he considered it the home of the president, the residency was Jed's home, at least for now. It was how he separated one role from another. It was the only way to stay sane and try not to let personal feelings dictate professional decisions. Of course thinking of personal issues with Hoynes was making an unbiased decision pretty damn hard now for Jed.

Figuring he was better at least waiting for his coffee before he threw Hoynes under the bridge as much out of spite as political need, Jed decided to welcome Leo's change of topic.

“Alright Leo, what do you want to discuss?”

“Cadence.”

Leo was straight to the point. He had hoped to ask Jed about this when he was in a good mood but it was obvious now that the day was only going to worsen, so he had to take his chance now.

“Bright girl, good to see her back.”

Leo smiled, hearing Jed speak positively of her made him feel a little easier about what he was about to ask.

“That's part of the reason I didn't get much sleep,” Jed lamented. “Zoey was hounding me about her for over an hour, she's very eager to see her again.”

Leo's smile warmed at this news. “They were close,” he murmured.

Jed smiled and nodded. “Zoey also looked up to her.” He waved Leo on. “What did you want to discuss about her?”

“She had plans for the White House, lofty and a little misguided with her youth but she was ambitious,” Leo explained. “She still is and I think it was and still is a good career choice for her. It's just she needs guidance and-”

“You want me to get her a job,” Jed guessed.

Leo studied his boss trying to gage his thoughts on the matter.

“Well sir I mean is it possible for her to apply for one without it being seen as a favour?” Leo pried.

Jed looked thoughtful for a moment.

The intercom buzzed. “Coffee sir,” Mrs. Landingham's polite, cheery voice called through it.

Jed eyed the box warily and reached for a button he hoped would answer the call. The line went dead.

“Damn technology,” Jed grumbled.

Leo moved to the door and opened it to grant a staff member entry with a singular cup of coffee.

“He still doesn't how to use that intercom does he?” Mrs. Landingham queried calmly. She kept her gaze on her notes.

“Nope,” Leo retorted.

“Well no cookie until he does,” Mrs. Landingham mused.

The staff member delivered the coffee and retreated from the room.

Jed took a sip and welcomed the heat and caffeine. He continued to look thoughtful as he took a second sip.

“She was on Hoynes' team,” he recalled.

“Yes sir but don't hold that against her,” Leo pleaded.

Jed turned up at Leo with a smile. “Not at all Leo, in fact maybe that could be the key. We could use someone friendly on his team.”

Leo raised his greyed eyebrows slightly. “Sir are you suggesting my daughter should be a spy for us on Hoynes' team?”

Jed's smile widened. “An asset Leo,” he corrected, “an asset for us.”

“She didn't leave Hoynes' team on good terms,” Leo reminded him.

Jed laughed. “I know, that makes it better,” he added with a devious curve to his smile. “She could be an asset for us and hopefully a thorn in John's side too.”

“That's a little exploitive of you sir and a touch evil.”

“Well no one can accuse me of doing her a favour then, can they Leo?”

Leo gave a small smile in answer. “I guess not sir but is there even a post on his team she's qualified for and what if Hoynes doesn't agree?”

“I tell you what Leo, arrange for you and her to meet me in oh...” Jed glanced at his watch. “An hour's time, will that do?”

“Here sir?”

Jed look thoughtful again. “Sure.”

Leo nodded. “Okay sir and thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic begins loosely alongside the middle of Season 1, as I want to bring something new to it I'll be adding my own story points to it as well because I don't want to feel like I'm writing a novelisation of the show. I'm hoping to bring some more Mallory and by extension Mallory and Sam to it because I quite liked them, I love Danny and C.J too, not so sure with Josh, I love Joey every time's she on screen and I'm re-working my way through the show to recall the awesomeness of Amy (so far I can't gel with Donna, never could but I respect the fandom) so we'll see.  
At any rate it's more about Leo, John Hoynes and Jed Bartlet and their relationships with one another and my OC. Many thanks for the attention so far, I really appreciate it and I appreciate all comments. Hopefully you'll continue to find this interesting and entertaining.  
I guess I should mention Mandy won't be in this fic, even though she didn't bother me as a character she didn't impact on me as one either, she just struggled to add to the story for me and she's out of it pretty quickly so I didn't want to include her.


	4. The Texan Problem

Cadence was suspicious as to what her father had been discussing with the President. Here she was back in Mrs. Landingham's domain awaiting an audience with the leader of the free world and just under twelve hours since Mallory had talked about her father using influence to get her a job.

“Cookie dear?”

Mrs. Landingham's voice pulled the young woman from her suspicious thoughts and she looked over to the executive secretary. The woman had the cookie jar open and was gesturing to it with one hand and a smile. “I got you those raisin ones you mentioned.”

Cadence's eyes widened slightly at this as she was immediately touched by the gesture. She strode over slowly, conscious of Mallory's loaned black skirt bunching up slightly on her rear. Cadence wondered at the fitting, she and Mallory were a similar height and weight but Cadence had wider hips. She hoped the pantyhose were at least as complimentary as they felt.

Cadence plucked out a cookie and smiled down at the woman with gratitude. “Thank you Mrs. Landingham.”

The woman granted her another smile as she closed the jar. “No trouble dear.”

“None for me Mrs. Landingham?” Leo pried, his tone tinged with satire.

“Now Leo, you know you have to earn it,” the woman chided him cheerfully. She plucked up a pen and starting writing.

The door to the Oval Office opened and the President's aide Charlie Young stepped out. He closed the door behind him and regarded the group with a polite smile.

“He's ready for you now,” he addressed Leo with a nod. He took up a position to the side of the door with his hands behind his back like a soldier of the guard at attention.

“Still hasn't learned to use the intercom,” Mrs. Landingham scorned to her notes.

“Thanks Charlie,” Leo said. “Charlie, this is my daughter Cadence,” he introduced. “Cadence this is the President's personal aide Charlie Young.”

Charlie gave Cadence a bright smile. “A pleasure to meet you ma'am.” His voice was quiet but sincerely welcoming.

Cadence looked back at the man with intrigue, he was similar in age to her give or take a few years and it gave her hope to see someone so young in such a prestigious role.

“It's a pleasure to meet you too,” she retorted. “Although I'd prefer to be Cady, Mr. Young.”

His smile widened. “And I would prefer Charlie.”

Cadence smiled back at him. “Alright we're agreed, you're Charlie and I'm Cady. I guess it's good we agreed on those names or it might have gotten confusing.”

Leo suppressed an urge to roll his eyes at Cadence's teasing. He gestured to his daughter and then to the formidable door with one hand. “Let's go,” he said.

Cadence took a quick bite from the cookie, ignoring her father's look of scorn as she chewed down on it. She swallowed hard and wiped the crumbs from her mouth with one hand. “I haven't had breakfast,” she murmured.

“Your sister's right, you need to eat better. A cookie is not breakfast,” Leo scolded. “Let's go already.”

Leo stepped up to the door and opened it. He halted after taking just a couple of steps inside and stared wordlessly forward.

There was a loud crunch from behind Leo. Cadence's loud biting on the cookie broke the silence.

“Morning Leo,” John Hoynes' calm voice greeted quietly.

Leo frowned as a soft splutter and the sound of choking on crumbs sounded behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see Cadence frantically brushing cookie crumbs off the loose fitted, long sleeved, cream shirt her sister had loaned her.

Leo turned forward again and glanced from John to Jed. “Sir, are we interrupting something?” he queried, his tone verging on bluntness as he was too surprised to sound polite about it.

“No Leo,” Jed retorted calmly. He waved Leo in. “Both of you come in, unless Cady needs Charlie to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre,” he added sardonically with a slight raise of his eyebrows and a questioning glance past Leo.

Leo stepped into the room feeling like he had been ambushed.

Cadence followed, tensing as she heard Charlie close the door behind her. Just like her father she felt ambushed only she wasn't entirely sure who by.

Leo stepped to one side exposing his daughter to Jed and John's gazes. Cadence, feeling more than ever that her sister's borrowed clothes were ill-fitting and unsuitable for her, summoned up her confidence and gave them a harmless smile.

“Good morning Mr. President, Mr. Vice President,” she greeted them calmly.

Cadence glanced from one to the other, barely glimpsing John before she let her stare stay on Jed. She had that feeling again of being in the office not of a familiar family friend but a powerful figure who was all but a stranger to her.

“Good morning Cady,” Jed greeted politely.

“Good morning,” John retorted without the warmth of Jed.

They were both standing, Jed to the left in front of the table and John to the right lingering near the gold and cream diamond patterned chair he had been occupying until Leo had entered. It was almost as if Jed was defending the position of the presidential table from John.

“Cady I'm going to get right to the point,” Jed said. “We have a problem.”

Cadence focused on Jed as he spoke, forcing herself to ignore the distraction just out of her peripheral vision on the right. She had to be professional, this was the Oval Office for God's sakes. She could smell a whiff of oak and amber, a familiar aftershave that was pushing at memories long subdued. She told herself that maybe it was Jed's but she didn't think he was wearing any and her father's was subtle and so familiar she didn't even really take it as a brand anymore, it was simply the scent of her father.

“There is a senator in Texas, one Senator Matt Whyte, a gun nut who's decided to publicly bash me and my liberal ways,” Jed sneered with a wide, bitter smile.

John tautened slightly at the term 'gun nut' but said nothing.

Leo murmured, “oh boy.” He could see that Jed's form had only worsened since earlier and that he was verging into one of his sarcastic variations of anger. Leo would never say it to his face but sometimes Jed had a habit of going into a derisive, dismissive ramble that could turn into a stubborn, loud rant to which he would hear no rebuttal.

“You see Cady,” Jed continued, attempting to don a more formal tone for the young woman, “we passed a bill not too long ago adding restrictions to the sales of automatic firearms-”

“I know,” Cadence interrupted softly. “I know some of what Senator Whyte has said too.”

“That the Republicans won the real vote and I'm in without any power to punish the public's choice in party with my gun laws,” Jed grumbled as his expression darkened.

Cadence nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Are you aware that John here secured our vote to pass this bill?” Jed queried as he turned on John almost viciously, thrusting a hand in his direction accusingly.

John resisted the urge to retaliate. He had taken full advantage of the bill, the senators he had turned to it had sung his praises not Jed's and of course Jed was making him pay for it.

Cadence nodded again. “I am,” she answered carefully. She wondered where all this was going as she refrained from looking in John's direction.

“Do you know then how John picks and chooses which way to feel about guns depending on the senator?” Jed snapped.

“That's not true,” John interrupted angrily.

Jed faced him down with a glower. “Really, you sway five to restrict automatic guns' sales but a senator from Texas speaks out about gun control and you won't go to quieten him down?” Jed accused.

“That is not how it is,” John retorted heatedly. “A minor restriction on certain arms is a gesture but a major restriction on all arms is too extreme and you know I'm against that,” he added pointedly as his pale eyes flared with rage.

“Fellas where are we going with this?” Leo interjected. He couldn't fathom why Jed had him and his daughter here to witness a spat between Jed and John.

Jed returned his attention to Cadence. “Cady do you have a solution to this?” he queried.

Cadence was stunned by the question. Nervous, she was clenching the cookie so tightly it began to crumble to the floor. She glanced down in surprise and then up again apologetically.

Jed was looking back at her with disappointment and a measure of pity. It was a look Cadence had grown to despise after receiving it so many times from her mother and her professors in the wake of her thesis and dropping out of her studies.

Cadence tossed off her nerves, telling herself things could never get worse than they had been.

“A visit to Texas,” she answered plainly, “both of you together. If you go alone sir,” she continued quickly as she saw the protest budding in Jed's eyes, “you are undermining the Vice President and if he goes alone people will think you don't want to.”

“I don't,” Jed answered bluntly. He was regarding Cadence with interest despite his objections.

“Sir your support there is already weak,” she reminded him, “you lost Texas. Use this to win it back. Plus, a united front in the Vice President's home state will quash the rumours that you two don't get along.”

Jed raised his pale eyebrows slightly at this. “You've heard those rumours?” he murmured.

Leo cracked a dry smile at this. He was observing his daughter silently, knowing that this was Jed's way of testing her worth for the White House. He didn't appreciate his superior's tactics but he was certainly admiring how his daughter was handling it so far.

Cadence met Jed's gaze with a confident calm in her own. “Sir I was there when you asked John...the Vice President,” she corrected quickly, “to join your ticket. Think of it this way, one day of embracing Texas is all it takes for you to crush this senator and starts your move to winning the support of a large state. You need to embrace all your people,” she added firmly, “even the ones in the South who wear silly hats.”

Jed tensed at this comment whilst John gave a small smile. It was probably the closest to a telling off Jed had received in front of John.

“It's a good gesture,” Cadence continued, still sanguine in her manner, “and it doesn't cost either of you much. You can also put a positive spin on the Vice President being a Texan who supported the limitation of sales of automatic firearms. He has met people halfway with that, it's not an aggressive stance on gun control, just a sensible start. Also,” she added with a smile, “I heard Texans know how to make a good steak.”

Jed's blue gaze sparkled with approval. “A sensible start,” he repeated, “you're good with words Cady.” He turned an admonishing stare back on John. “You should have used her better on your campaign John.”

John, not entirely sure he was happy with Cadence's plan or why the President had asked her for her input, stayed silent and looked at Jed with a subdued irritation.

Jed turned back to Cadence. “Well I believe in second chances. Congratulations on passing your interview Cady.”

Cadence blinked and glanced from the President to her father in confusion. Leo was smiling. “Sir?”

“You're going to apply for a role on John's team, interview and, unless there's something I'm unaware of, you'll be successful.”

“Um doing what sir?” Cadence quipped. She felt her anxiety return. The cookie crumbled and mulched together as her palms started to sweat. She wouldn't dare look John's way, far too afraid of what she might see there.

John for his part was managing an iron expression of calm though he had turned tense and a frown was threatening to pull at his mouth.

“Well if John has any sense PR. Oh and Cady,” Jed raised a finger to her and shook it, “don't be writing anymore essays comparing us to Roman dictators.”

“Emperors sir,” Cadence corrected, “unelected ones,” she felt her ears burn pink with embarrassment, “but I take your point, I won't.”

Jed smiled and nodded. “Alright you can go now, you too John. I have Sam and Josh coming now, no doubt with more good news for a morning. Oh and John,” he looked at the VP sternly, “this Texas thing is Cady's plan so she goes too.”

John hid his emotion from his face as he looked back at his long time rival with a mask of indifference and nodded. “Yes Mr. President.”

John avoided looking Leo's way as he headed for the door. He stopped and gestured with one hand for Cadence to go first.

Cadence reached for the handle, her palms made it slippery and she fumbled for it. Frustrated and eager to leave she pushed it with more force than necessary.

“Ouch!” Charlie's voice called out in pain as he was smacked with the full force of the door he was reaching for.

“Oh shit,” Cadence exclaimed before she could help it.

“Cadence step outside of this prestigious office before you swear,” Leo reproved her.

“I think the situation warranted it dad,” Cadence grumbled as she tried to move round the door without opening it further, terrified of doing more damage with it.

John stepped forward, extending his arm over her and reaching his palm out to the ajar door.

Cadence felt his body heat at her back and glanced over her shoulder before she could help it. He was so close, if she raised her hand back she could brush it against his coal grey jacket. Her throat turned dry as she stared at his smart attire, her blue-grey eyes darting up to his cotton shirt and red and blue striped tie.

John wasn't looking at her. He was staring forward as he pushed open the door and widened the gap.

“Charlie are you alright?” the jovial voice of Josh called in between snickers.

Cadence turned ahead at the voice and grimaced before she exited the room.

Charlie was rubbing at his nose with a wince, his brown eyes were burning as much with pain as with annoyance at Sam and Josh's unhelpful laughter.

Only John's stoic Secret Service agent was emotionless to the display. He stood near the doorway, blank faced and still, cut from the same black and white uniformed cloth as most of the other agents, at least those not attempting to blend in.

“Is it bleeding dear?” Mrs. Landingham piped up as she gazed up at the aide with mild concern. “Do you need a tissue?”

Charlie rubbed at his nose, his fingers drifting down to his nostrils to test the area for blood. “No thanks, it's fine, just a bit sore,” he murmured.

“And here's the culprit,” Josh said accusingly as he turned to face the doorway. His dark brown eyes widened at the sight of Cadence before he mollified the stare for the Vice President.

Josh always felt uncomfortable around the VP, even though he put on a show to suggest otherwise. He had worked on John Hoynes' campaign steadily before jumping ship at Leo's behest and leaving John in the lurch for Bartlet's campaign. The fact that Hoynes' campaign had capsized soon after was not entirely a coincidence, at least Josh didn't think so. Seeing Cadence lingering near the Vice President filled Josh with something worse than discomfort, it was an ugly sensation of loathing he struggled to suppress. It brought back memories that at two years old weren't exactly too hard to conjure up.

Josh pushed his hands into his grey trouser pockets and blinked as he stared at the pair. “Why are you here?” he queried bluntly.

“I heard the bagels sold next door were to die for and thought before I got some that I'd call in here for a visit while I was in the area,” Cadence retorted sardonically.

She hastened to Charlie and looked at him apologetically. She was relieved to see there was no blood. “I'm so sorry, I didn't realise you were there.” She held out a handful of crumbled cookie. “All I've got to make amends is this cookie.”

Charlie stared down at the crumbs with destain. “Are you sure that's a cookie?” he queried doubtfully.

“Well it's taken a new form but the ingredients are still the same,” Cadence insisted.

Charlie shook his head as he looked back up at the fair haired woman. “Well I'll pass but you're forgiven.”

Cadence smiled. “Thanks Charlie.” She lowered her hand.

“Seriously, why are you here?” Josh questioned, putting more volume into his voice.

Cadence turned back to him and approached him with a small, apologetic smile. “How about to make amends? You and I got off on the wrong foot last time, I made poor jokes and you made poor bets.” Her smile widened slightly. “Look, let's be friends for my father's sake, or at least good acquaintances, what do you say?”

Josh studied Cadence's expression hard. He knew he was missing something, he knew it but her face seemed sincere, cheerful and warm even and she was his boss' daughter. For the sake of their audience he figured he should give in, for now anyway.

“Yes alright,” he retorted reluctantly.

“Shake on it?” she suggested innocently.

Josh sighed. “Fine.” He tugged his left hand out of his trouser pocket.

Cadence immediately grasped Josh's hand tightly, squishing the remnants of cookie and sweat into it before releasing it with a smile.

She walked away as Josh gave a groan of disgust and starting wiping his hand down his blazer as the rage swept through him.

John was smiling again, as were Charlie and Sam.

“Josh don't dirty my office,” Mrs. Landingham called out warningly.

“Me?” Josh spluttered. “It wasn't me!”

Cadence faced Sam's direction and gave him a tranquil stare.

Sam gazed back at her with a calm uncertainty. He mastered more sensibility than Josh but that was the norm. Sam was always so neatly suited and booted one would be hard pushed to find a wrinkle on him and a stain or a hair out of place signalled a crisis for the man whereas Josh succumbed to scruffiness on a whim or simply as a natural state of too much energy spent on too many goals in any one day. Sam went at things calmly and even when he was angry or defensive he still kept his voice low and his manner practical whilst Josh flapped and yelled as he was doing right now.

“Sam, my sister spent a good part of the evening telling me about your cute butt,” Cadence informed Sam in a tone that was firm given the topic, “take that information and use it wisely. Take a care over whose side you pick as well,” she added.

“Sides?” Sam babbled as he felt his cheeks brighten and heat up. He pushed his glasses up his nose and promptly avoided looking to anyone other than Cadence.

Cadence smiled as Josh continued to take swipes at imagined cookie crumbs on his trouser leg. “Yes Sam, your companion over there-”

“Josh,” Sam interrupted.

Cadence nodded as her stare begin intense and she took a step closer to Sam as she raised her hands to her hips. “Josh. We go back, we worked together before but he betrayed the cause and then I had my little incident and I guess neither of us is quite ready to forgive and forget so we shall just have to play for winner.”

Sam swallowed hard, this was not a fight he wanted involved with. Josh was his friend, Cadence was Leo's daughter, Sam wasn't exactly sure a winning side existed.

“Um...your sister talked about me?” Sam went back to the more favourable topic.

Cadence smiled at him and nodded again. “Yes, frequently and fondly, I can be a favourable ally you know.”

John observed the spat quietly. He wanted to walk away from it but he needed to talk to Cadence and who knew when he would get another chance? He had a busy day scheduled and this topic of her joining his team warranted attention now. The Vice President didn't even know who he favoured at the moment, or rather disapproved of least- Cadence or Josh? Just like for them, the two years that had passed since his campaign weren't too long ago for him either. The memories of his failed campaign were still bitter and fresh as was Josh's betrayal to Bartlet's side and Cadence's humiliating departure.

Charlie had wisely chosen silence as well though he smiled at the bickering and bartering. He tried to remember what Cadence's sister looked like. Being a school teacher Mallory didn't exactly have time for frequent visits to the White House and she usually headed for the bullpen for Sam or to drop in on her father's office. Charlie thought he had maybe glimpsed her just once heading into the Chief of Staff's office which lingered near the Oval Office.

“Sam don't fall for that,” Josh snapped at his friend crossly. He gestured to Cadence with one hand. “That's trickery, she's trying to turn you against me by using her sister as bait, which is disgusting,” he added with a pointed nod. “And I don't know why, what do you mean play for winner? At what game? Who can write a non-offending thesis?” he sneered sarcastically as he turned his glare on Cadence.

Cadence's smile widened as she glanced at Sam. “The important question is, is it working Sam?”

“Gentlemen would it surprise you to learn I don't have all day?” Jed's voice called out reproachfully as he stepped into the doorway of the Oval Office.

Josh and Sam faced him with instant apology. “Sorry sir,” they stammered together.

Josh gave Cadence a glower. “Go get your bagels then,” he muttered before he headed for the office.

Sam headed after Josh before halting to face Cadence. He gave her a nervous smile as he pried, “did Mallory really say that about me?”

“Sam now!” Leo called.

Sam winced at the tone. “Gotta go.” He darted off into the office.

Charlie smiled and shook his head before closing the door after him.

Cadence stepped up to Mrs. Landingham's desk. “Can I have a tissue please?”

“Help yourself dear,” the woman retorted with a gesture to the metallic box of tissues sitting waiting.

Cadence plucked out one and headed for the mess of cookie on the floor. She knelt down to dutifully lift it up. She lifted the crumbled cookie and stood upright again before heading over to the available bin and depositing the mess there.

John stepped up to her and regarded her with something she was sure was contempt. “We need to talk,” he said sternly.

Cadence stared up at him, meeting the anger in his pale blue gaze. A one on one with John, it was something she had been dreading and hoped to avoid at all costs. She wondered wearily if it was going to be an interrogation, perhaps an accusation given what had just happened in the Oval Office. She knew she couldn't refuse given what had gone on in there, this was a conversation she had to have out with John.

“Alright,” she retorted quietly, still calm but not quite so confident.

“This way.”

John turned and headed from Mrs. Landingham's quarters and through to the West Wing where he had an office. He was joined by his protective agent who walked silently alongside him. One agent was the bare minimum and John only got by with it because there was an agent at every door around here. The moment he went to leave the building the rest of his detail who had followed him to it would rejoin him.

As Vice President, John's base was at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building whilst his residency was at the Number One Observatory Circle, which was at the United States Naval Observatory. Both were territories near but away from the White House, a stark reminder that the Vice President was outside the President's domain in more than one way. Having an office in the West Wing seemed like a token gesture to John but he often took advantage of it anyway.

Cadence followed with reluctance, feeling a little like the scorned pupil trotting after the headmaster. She eyed the back of John's coal grey suit, telling herself that he was like Jed now, a man of two different entities, there was John Hoynes the man and then there was the Vice President. The trouble was that the John Hoynes she knew was of two years ago, she couldn't attest to what his personality was like now.

John stopped at his office and allowed his agent to open it and give it the quick once over.

“Wait outside,” John commanded him.

John entered and the agent took up post. Cadence walked past him feeling more like she was entering a prison with the guard on duty to prevent her escape. She dutifully closed the door behind her, feeling there was a certain irony to shutting herself in the prison.

The office was dark, there were no external windows, the ceiling lights were the dim, soulless bars of archaic city offices that served to hum the annoying electric tune of long admin hours and low pay, and the blinds for the windows to the corridor were drawn. There was a mahogany desk at the forefront with the expected accessories- gold desk lamp, telephone, computer, notepad, pens and a whiteboard behind it. Before it was a large, rectangular table that sat four at opposing sides and one on each end. The chairs had a Chesterfield style dark backing that looking stylish but uncomfortable.

John avoided the chairs and instead leaned against the desk as the corners of his lips tugged down in a frown.

“What in the hell are you playing at?” He was straight to the point. “What kind of ambush was that Cadence?”

Cadence swallowed down her fear as she stepped away from the door and took up a position opposite John.

“I don't know,” she retorted placidly, “it was an ambush for me too.”

John pushed off the desk and shook his head at her. “No,” he snapped as he pointed at her angrily, “no this was an opportunity for you, wasn't it? You blindsided me into a job. Cadence you left me, remember?” John fought to keep his voice low as he let the thicker tones of his Texan accent slip into it. “I never asked you to leave, I never hinted at it either.”

“No but we both know why I did and why I did it the way I did,” Cadence retorted, still unruffled as she stood poised and held her ground.

“Why come back then?” John demanded. “Is it because I got this token post, so it is easy now to want to work for me.”

Cadence shook her head. “No John, it's definitely not easy.”

John's frown deepened and he swept a hand through his thick, dark hair.

“You vanished, you ran from my bed in the dead of the night like a criminal,” he addressed her angrily. “I had people looking for you but there was nothing. I looked for a while Cadence. Then he gets inaugurated with Leo by his side and there is still no sign of you. All of a sudden here you are with Leo and the President getting offered a job at my expense.”

“I won't take it!” Cadence snapped suddenly. “Alright! I won't even apply, they can't make me. Look I didn't know, really.” Cadence stared up at him but it was getting difficult now to maintain her calm facade. “I was at dinner with Mallory and dad last night,” she explained. “They didn't want me going and I admitted I hadn't really found a career or a home for myself but I had no idea it was going to lead to this, this morning. I'm sorry John, I just meant to check in with dad given things with mum and all this business about his addictions and then I meant to go.”

“So you weren't going to talk to me?” John demanded as fury filled his stare.

“What?” Cadence looked at him in astonishment. “Did you want me to?”

“I deserve an explanation as to where you have been all this time.”

“Jesus John you're the Vice President now, I don't...I missed you,” Cadence let the truth of her emotions escape before she could help it. “I missed your charm, your frankness , your wit and your kindness.” She let out a soft laugh. “I even missed your stubbornness but it was going to come out John.”

“You don't know that,” he dismissed her concerns quickly.

“I do,” Cadence argued, “and even if it wasn't...” She gave him a serious stare and took a step towards him. “I still feel that spark, right now I'm standing here and I feel this heat and I get a wash of memories and it's wrong. I almost wrecked everything once before, I can't-”

He silenced her with a kiss. It came fast as he reached one hand round to her bum and pulled her into him. John could be charming, dashing and roguish, it was easy for him to flirt and tease but he didn't need to do it now with Cadence because he had done it all before and she had just confirmed the attraction was still there, dormant not extinct.

John tasted the sweet, fruity remnants of raisins on the edge of her mouth before he moved his lips lower to press butterfly kisses about her neck.

Cadence shuddered slightly at the light brushing of the Vice President's warm mouth on her exposed flesh. As faint as the touch was it also sent a tingle of pleasure through her. Her hands were already reaching for his shirt. She tugged it out and pushed one palm under it to press against the hot skin of his torso. The other hand she stretched up into his thick hair, burrowing her fingers through it and ruffling it slightly.

“If you're not working for Jed to get at me,” he murmured into her right ear, “and you want to work with my team then you can. You were always good with public relations, you're intelligent, witty, a quick thinker and you have the confidence to tell people to shove it up their ass when you need to.”

Cadence smiled faintly at this. “We can't do this then John, I can't work for you and bed you, if it ever came out-”

“Cadence,” he interrupted angrily, “why do you assume it will? Do you think I'm foolish? Do you think I'd risk my career like that?”

Cadence pulled back from him and bit her bottom lip slightly before she answered. “John what about my career and my life? My family can't take another scandal from me.” She fumbled her hands through her hair in an effort to smooth it down and shook her head. “I'll turn the post down John, it's for the best.”

“No,” he said calmly as his professional mask returned. He began to tuck his shirt back into place. “We can be colleagues Cadence, you will work for me, nothing else.”

“Why?”

John gave a small smile. “Cady you're normally confident, do you think I wanted you just for a fuck?”

Cadence tensed at the blunt turn of phrase he had used. Such vulgarity suited John for sure, in the past he had often used it to shock or to remind people that he didn't take any shit but it did not suit the Vice President.

“I suppose not,” she said carefully.

“Then you'll apply? Unless you wanted to work for me for that reason,” he added coyly.

Cadence felt her ears turn pink again. “No,” she answered quickly. “I've always wanted to work for the White House,” she babbled, “and I always believed in your office.”

“Good, then I'll see things are arranged so there's a post for you to apply and interview for. Then we are all going to Texas and you are going to regret ever suggesting it.” He placed his hands on his hips and gave a mock accusing expression.

Cadence smiled back at him. “I have faith in my suggestion Mr Vice President,” she assured.

He nodded. “Another thing, if you need help getting a home sorted let me know and if you don't, let me know when you've found one.”

When Cadence gave a quizzical look in response John felt compelled to explain.

“I just want to help you,” he said, “I'm not intending on some sordid visits, perhaps just one to see you're settled. My staff's welfare is very important to me and with you it's not just a welcome, it's a welcome back.”

“I prefer welcome,” Cadence retorted quietly, “clean slate and all that.”


	5. A Plan With A Plane

It was half five in the morning and still dark outside. Cadence was curled up on the wooden ledge of her apartment window wrapped in a woollen blanket as she cradled a mug of coffee and listened through her earphones to a medley of disco songs. She had been like that since four, awake since three, she had given up on sleep and decided to enjoy the city view her new apartment offered her.

Cadence had moved in just yesterday and had barely had a chance to take in aged walls that hinted of a detailed history and a bare appearance that offered many possibilities before her father's deliverymen had arrived. Cadence had asked him to let her try things on her own two feet but Leo had insisted on a house warming gift. That gift had been a truck load of accessories and furniture- a fridge/freezer combo, a cooker, chairs for the breakfast bar that was already in the kitchen, a bed, a couch, a television and a wardrobe. The bed had to be returned as it didn't fit, apparently Leo had forgotten that the apartment was small.

Jenny, Cadence's mother, had arrived shortly after with Mallory, more house warming gifts and a welcome dinner. The blanket was a gift from Jenny, a remnant of their family home in Chicago, it still bore a faint scent of the old house. It was fluffy, dyed midnight blue and patterned with flying white swans, age and love had worn its edges to loose fibres and straggly ends but it still provided a much needed comfort. 

Jenny had also gifted her youngest daughter with some cushions, more blankets and rug, recalling how Cadence always favoured cosy accessories. Most of them were in the intended bedroom serving as a temporary nest/bed on the floor. 

Mallory had given Cadence the mug she was cradling along with a set of glasses, cutlery, a few more cups and a coffee maker.

Mallory had been positive about the apartment pick whilst Jenny has pursed her lips and looked disapproving though a look from her eldest child had kept her from offering any verbal scorn. The pair had stayed for a few hours before leaving her to spend her first night alone. Mallory had hugged her and murmured that she was proud of her. Jenny had been more withdrawn, her hug had been stiff, a performance for Mallory more than anything, and she had murmured pleadingly to Cadence 'you have something good, don't mess it up this time'. 

Jenny's words had cut Cadence to the core. They had troubled her sleep and disturbed her to wakefulness at one in the morning, two and then three when she had given up on a peaceful slumber. Now she had doubts and woes, a concern that she would sabotage things simply by being herself. That she would embarrass her father and Jed and do something they couldn't forgive. 

Cadence thought of John's warm mouth pressing against hers and tensed up before her eyes darted down to another house warming gift that remained unopened. It was a small, fancy box, the idealistic present seen in movies with neat, gold wrapping and an elegant red ribbon and bow sealing its contents. There was a tag on it, a single word inked out in fancy calligraphy- Welcome. It had arrived just before the furniture, given to her by a private courier.

Cadence knew she was being foolish leaving it unopened. John had agreed to professionalism, it was just a gift, except she wondered if he brought all his staff house warming gifts. Of course how many of them had moved into new homes since he had come to post? 

She fingered the red bow loosely. Trust John to see it packaged in something that hinted of class and money. She knew he was still showing off his gentleman charm despite agreeing just to be colleagues. Knowing she wasn't going to return it, she set the half drunk coffee to one side and tugged the bow free at last. She plucked off the lid and had to tug off some silvery tissue paper to reveal the treasure inside. Seeing the gift at last, Cadence let out a loud laugh.

A large, comical, yellow rubber duck with an upturned expression of happiness gazed up at her with painted blue eyes.

“Well it's just as well I wouldn't settle for an apartment without a bath,” Cadence murmured to herself.

She pulled the duck free from its gift box confines and smiled. Maybe things were going to go well this time.

\---

“Do we have to go on the same plane?” Josh Lyman's irate voice rang out loudly through his office and out the ajar door into the corridor.

Toby, never one to flinch at yelling, continued giving Josh the same dull eyed look he had been giving him for the past fifteen minutes. “I'm going to say this once more Josh, slowly,” he said in a deadpan manner. “It's bad for the environment to take two planes when it's unnecessary.”

Josh held both his hands up as he regarded Toby with disbelief. “How's it unnecessary?!” he exclaimed. “What if the plane gets shot down, then we've no President or Vice President!”

“Josh that's a little morbid don't you think?” Donna's bright tones interrupted as she entered the room.

She brought an instant lustre to the room, her pale pink outfit adding colour to the drab office that Toby and Josh were blending into with their dark suits.

Josh looked at his assistant in exasperation. “But a fair point surely.”

“Presidents and their Vices have travelled together before,” Toby reminded him, “it is their choice.”

“Oh no,” Josh shook his head at Toby, “you're not going to have me believe the President chose this.”

Toby relented his expression of dull disdain slightly for mild discomfort. “Not exactly,” he admitted awkwardly.

“I'm still unclear on who suggested a trip to Texas,” Josh grumbled.

Toby offered a half-grin at this before he banished it.

Donna looked from one to the other before stepping in front of Josh, putting her chirpy face in close proximity to his.

“Josh,” she called him to attention.

Josh glanced to her wearily. He wondered why Donna didn't irate him more or why even when she did annoy him it was almost a welcome annoyance, a pattern to the day he had come to expect and that some masochistic side of him would probably miss should she ever leave him. He figured as he looked at her cheery gaze and happy smile that maybe it was her bubbly, bright persona he was drawn too. Donna wasn't a robot, she wasn't always happy, in fact she was very forthright with her emotions and honest to a fault about her opinions but her natural persona was optimism. Josh wondered if it was that spark of Disney esq hope in her that he was drawn to.

“Yes Donna?” he queried.

“I came to ask.” She paused.

“Yes Donna?” he repeated impatiently.

“Do you need me in Texas?”

Josh looked at his assistant carefully trying to spy which answer she wanted to hear. “Why Donna?” he prompted her to explain herself before he walked into a potential trap.

“Well it's just I heard you might be...visiting um a ranch.”

“And your point is?” Josh tried to keep neutral but the idea of visiting a ranch wasn't something he was overjoyed about. He was determined to find out quickly whose plan Texas was and make them sorry for it.

“It's just I'm not really a fan of that,” Donna attempted to explain awkwardly.

Josh pushed his hands through his light brown curls before giving his assistant a look of exasperation. “That, Donna what exactly is that?” Josh demanded.

“Cattle, manure, horses, manure,” Toby lamented, “pigs, unclean and manure.”

“Toby,” Josh scolded him, “we're going to make a good presentation, mocking the ways of certain individuals in Texas is what cost us the state in the first place. They're not all rural hicks.”

“Just the ones we're visiting,” Toby grumbled with a sullen look.

“Toby's right though Josh,” Donna remarked. “I don't think I would do well for you in Texas. Plus, I really think you need to use this time to get along better with Cady.”

Josh visibly bristled at the name. “Donna, firstly, we discussed you not mentioning the name of that individual here and secondly, since when were you were on nickname terms with Benedict Arnold?”

“You know Josh, Leo will hear you call her that one day,” Toby warned with a disapproving look. Toby had no real opinion on Cadence McGarry as yet. She had been formally hired and announced as Deputy Assistant to the Vice President in the role of Public Relations just four days ago. Neither Toby nor Sam had been too impressed by the title, both feeling it sounded a little too close to Communications Director, the roles they served in for the White House but more directly the President. Having been told by Leo that Jed had wanted Cadence on Hoynes' team, Toby was withholding judgement of her for now.

“Well when I've seen her she's been very nice to me,” Donna insisted.

“And how often do you see her Donna?” Josh demanded as he gestured his hands outwards theatrically. “She should be over in the Eisenhower.”

“She comes to see Leo for lunch sometimes and she visits when the Vice President does,” Donna retorted happily.

“Donna she's worked here for less than five days,” Josh grumbled. He stepped away from his assistant. “You know I don't always have time for lunch, I mean if she wants to be taken seriously she should be running to daddy for lunch breaks,” he muttered.

“Josh she's allowed to eat. Anyway, do I have to go to Texas?” Donna quipped.

Josh looked at her disapprovingly. “Well not now that I know you like someone from Hoynes' side.”

Donna smiled at him sarcastically and said sweetly, “I like you, don't I?”

“Hey!” Josh protested angrily.

Toby gave a small smile. “She's got you there Josh,” he said. “Let this go already, she's Leo's daughter, just be glad she is at the Eisenhower most of the time.”

Toby stepped away from the wall and headed for the door.

“Where are you going Toby?” Josh demanded. “One plane is a bad idea!”

Toby kept walking and answered without looking back. “I'm the Director of Communications not travel, speak to Leo. Anyway, C.J is briefing the press about the travel arrangements, if you push for a change they're going to think there's been a fallout between the President and the VP already.”

“You know I'm right Toby it's a huge risk, I mean this is why we have Air Force One and Air Force Two.”

“Leo Josh, speak to Leo,” Toby called as he entered the corridor.

“Right, I'm off to see Leo then,” Josh said firmly before darting off.

“Josh!” Donna called after him. “Can you bring me back a cowgirl hat? I think I'd look cute in one!”

Josh smiled as the image of Donna wearing a pink cowboy hat suddenly popped into his head. She would look cute in one, at least in his mind.

Josh bypassed C.J in the corridor and paused to talk with her.

The press secretary was dressed in black skirt suit with a blue shirt. She had been walking quickly, her expression serious, making it clear she was ready for business.

“C.J when is your press briefing?” Josh quipped.

“Ten minutes,” she retorted as she kept walking. “Why?”

C.J regretted giving Josh the platform to continue his conversation but she knew he hadn't stopped her for no reason and was liable to speak whether she dismissed him or not.

“I'm going to speak to Leo about this plane situation,” Josh retorted. He gazed up at the tall woman curiously. “What do you think about it?”

C.J gave him a careful stare in response. “I think ten minutes is a short time to debate it and try to change Leo and the President's mind on the manner, so if you're doing that walk fast because if plans change after I speak with the press I will take it out on you Josh.”

Josh held his ground though he felt a wash of nerves as the woman towered over him intimidating him with a tilt of her head and a narrowing of her dark blue gaze.

“Could you give me fifteen minutes, please?” he asked hopefully.

“No.” C.J's answer was resolute. She continued walking.

Josh sighed and quickened his pace in the opposite direction.

When Josh reached the door to Leo's office he glanced at his watch and realised he was probably down to seven minutes. Muttering a curse, he didn't bother with a knock, he panicked and entered. 

“Leo sorry for the intrusion but it's an emergency,” he announced as he hurried in without looking.

“Always the dramatics with you,” Cadence's voice scorned him. “Anyway, I was here first, wait your turn.”

She was standing opposite her father's desk looking frazzled. Her pale shirt was hanging loose over her light brown skirt, her jacket was missing and her hair was pushed out in several directions.

Leo glanced up at Josh helplessly from behind his desk before looking back to his agitated daughter.

Cadence started pacing around the wooden floor for the sixth time. “It's bad luck, we can't do it,” she complained.

Josh had considered a protest to Cadence but seeing her unease he stayed silent. He folded his arms, amused and fascinated as she wandered in circles, her eyes wide with the whites showing in them and panic filling her voice.

“Cady if this isn't coming from the Vice President I really can't do much about it,” Leo retorted calmly.

Cadence halted and gave her father a look of despair. “I'm not going to board.”

Leo drew back in his chair with a look of scorn. “Oh don't be like that. It's a short flight, it will be fine.”

“Four hours is long enough for any amount of disasters to occur, and I'm just talking about planes difficulties, you should consider terrorist ones,” she muttered as she rubbed her hair with one hand.

Leo slammed his hands on his desk angrily. “Cadence don't use that word,” he warned her as he pointed at her. 

Leo made himself relax his appearance and lowered his hand again. “Look, it's gonna be fine,” he addressed her calmly. “I'm getting on the plane, and you're getting on the plane.”

Josh, smiling at Cadence's nervous wreck appearance, had to ask, “what are you guys talking about?”

“Our travel arrangements,” Leo answered bluntly. “What are you here for?”

Josh looked surprised. “The same thing,” he admitted. He moved to stand before Leo's desk although it put him in a closer proximity to Cadence than he would have liked. “I think it's reckless having the President and Vice President on the same plane.”

“Noted but we're doing it,” Leo retorted firmly.

“Leo there's no way the President is for this, he can barely stand Hoynes-”

“Josh that's not true and you shouldn't say it,” Leo reprimanded him firmly with a look of disapproval.

“Yes, you never know what trouble an opinion on political manners could get you into,” Cadence taunted him.

Cadence had ceased pacing the room but was now fidgeting with the ends of her shirt with both hands. Her marbled grey-blue gaze shifted from Josh to Leo. 

“Dad, I don't like to say it because it leaves a dirty taste on my tongue but Josh is right.”

“Hey,” Josh snapped as he looked at the woman in annoyance. “I know it's only been four days for you but you're representing the White House now, we're meant to be professionals so you should act like it and agree with me politely.”

“Coming from someone who treats Congressmen like schoolboys when they don't vote the way he wants,” Cadence retorted with a fresh look of mocking in her stare for him.

“Who told you that?” Josh demanded.

Cadence smiled. “I'm not going to reveal my sources.”

“Could you two take this elsewhere? I feel like I've three kids not two,” Leo snapped at them. “We are all going on one plane, one big happy family, Cady you're the one who said unity would look good.”

Josh looked at the woman in confusion and disbelief. He pointed at her with one hand. “You said?” he echoed.

Cadence ignored him as she turned back to her father with a frown. “On the ground dad, it looks good on the ground. You know I'm still very new to post, I don't think I should go.”

Leo stood up from his desk and offered a smile that he managed to make appear firm. “Cadence the President has asked you to go and we do not disobey the President. Now, seriously, could you two get out of my office. Cady, go speak with the medical officer, tell them I sent you and they'll give you something for your nerves.”

“Nerves?” Josh echoed mockingly.

Cadence ignored him as she turned and charged out of the office.

“Leo I don't think one plane is a good idea,” Josh said.

“Out Josh,” Leo retorted with a warning look.

Josh gave him a curious look. “Just one question Leo, what did you mean the unity was her idea?”

Leo gave Josh a teasing smile that suddenly put Josh in mind of Cadence. “This whole thing was her idea Josh, it's why the President insisted she was hired.”

Josh paled as his mouth parted in an O shape. He threw his arms up in the air and found himself stepping back as he tried hard to contain his rage.

Leo waved at him. “Bye Josh.”

Josh swallowed hard. “Bye Leo,” he choked out softly. He turned and practically ran from the office.

“WHO KNEW?!”

This loud yell from Josh seemed to fill the corridors of the West Wing as he stormed down it looking for someone to take his anger out on.

Donna poked her head out of her office before diving back in as she spied her boss' look of fury.

Sam and Toby simultaneously jumped up and ran out of their offices. They exchanged a look before searching the walls for the row of clocks. It was just after nine o'clock.

“Damn it,” Toby cursed.

Sam shook his head. “One more hour and it would've been me.”

Josh spied them and sped towards them. “Cadence came up with this absurd plan?!” he exclaimed as he spread his hands out emphatically. “She's been here four days!”

“Well,” Sam began diplomatically, “you have discussed it before now Josh and it's not a bad idea.”

“Sam,” Josh growled out, “don't pick the wrong side.”

“Why does it have to be about sides?” Sam queried with a wounded look. “I mean we're all Democrats.”

“Yes Sam, that's how the public sees it but you're smart, you know better, this is a battle ground,” Josh said as he pointed to the ground theatrically. 

“Well the President is following Cadence's suggestion to deal with our friend in Texas,” Toby commented calmly, “does that mean she won the battle?”

Josh scowled at Toby. “It means she communicated a plan to him better than you could,” he commented pettily. “This is just round one, I'm going to win the war.

“Josh you're an idiot,” Toby said calmly, “and it's nice to see you getting beat by a girl,” he concluded with a nod of his head.

Toby walked off and met C.J as she exited the press room. He reached into his trouser pocket, lifted out his wallet and produced a ten dollar bill from it. “You won,” he said moodily as he handed it to the woman.

C.J's eyes filled with delight and surprise as she accepted the note. “I won?!” she exclaimed. “Josh found out before nine?”

Toby nodded and sighed. “Josh found out it was Cadence's plan, I assume from Leo. I really thought he would've kept it quiet until noon.”

C.J let out a loud laugh. “Fantastic! Oh, Danny was asking about the plane situation.”

“Plane situation?” Toby retorted.

C.J nodded. “The same thing Josh is yammering on about, isn't it a security risk, etc?”

“What did you tell him?” Toby queried.

“I said Presidents and their vices had travelled together in the past, that it was a show of camaraderie and it's a brief flight and up to the Secret Service to determine if any risk might occur.”

Toby nodded agreeably, satisfied with the press secretary's answer. “Good. What do you think about it?” he pried.

C.J smiled down at him. “I think now that Josh knows who came up with this plan it's going to be fun seeing him and Cadence stuck on the same plane for almost four hours.”

Toby gave a small smile at this. “I'm sure he'll behave with Leo and the President watching.” 

“Danny also asked what the in-flight movie would be,” C.J murmured, “he can be a real smart ass sometimes.”

“Other than that are the press briefed for this trip?” Toby quipped.

C.J nodded. “Of course, let's just hope our friend the senator plays nice for them.”

\---

It was close to seven in the evening and boarding for the Air Force One flight from Washington to Texas had begun. The President's team boarded first naturally heading up with minimal fuss. The press pool lingered on the tarmac, suitably distanced as they prepared to be boarded and shuffled into the few seats spared for them in the lesser quarters of the plane. What was unusual was that they had to wait for the Vice President and his party to board first. Even more unusual, as senior White House correspondent Danny Concannon was quick to notice, was that Vice President John Hoynes didn't pause for his usual preening to the press. He boarded the plane swiftly with a casual smile and wave followed just as quickly by his team.

Danny squinted against the breeze and watched as the Vice President's team moved herd like, following John briskly into the plane, a few in a tight formation despite the limitations of the steel stairs. He considered it odd but couldn't figure out the reason for it.

C.J, who stood at the front of the press pool as their instructor and, for the duration of this trip, leader in a fashion, also noticed the oddity of the Vice President's lack of display. John Hoynes was designed for the press, he was a model speaker, good for his word, unflinching and confident, and he was a master of a charm the press devoured. He was also one to leap at every chance he could for good publicity, determined to get his face out there and promoted in a good light as often as he could.

John didn't even notice the change from the cold night air to the warmth of the presidential aircraft as he stepped through. He did notice the attractive young hostess who greeted him and he flashed her a smile and offered a polite greeting before he hastened on.

“Ooh it's toasty in here,” Cadence marvelled behind him. “Toasty, toasty, I feel like a little, fluffy muffin in the oven.”

John reached the luxury cream couches the President and his Chief of Staff were currently occupying. Leo already had his reading glasses on and a newspaper unfolded in his lap.

Behind them Josh and Sam lingered. They were due to follow after Toby to their own sitting quarters but they both had a few queries they wanted to ask first. 

“Good evening John,” Jed greeted his vice courteously with a nod. 

Leo nodded approvingly.

“Good evening,” John retorted with barely a glance to the president. He fixed a serious, light blue stare on Leo. “Leo, did you per chance,” he lowered his head slightly at his words, “suggest that Cadence see the White House medic for a prescription of some sort?”

Leo tugged off his glasses and looked up at John in surprise. “Yes she has a fear of flying why do you-”

“Oooh look at the fuzzy glow that light makes!” Cadence's voice squealed out. “It's like a pretty little firefly!”

John glanced over his shoulder to the young woman. She was leaning over the aisle and hovering the palm of her hand over a lamp resting beside Charlie.

Charlie was looking up at her in bewilderment, unsure what to say. He opted for his usual polite manner. “Ma'am are you alright?” he queried politely.

Cadence let out a giggle before flinging her hair back over her shoulders dramatically with both hands. “Oh yes Charlie, I'm good, I mean real, rainbow kissed, bunny bouncing good, you know what I mean? See I've always been afraid of flying but tonight I don't know,” she stretched a hand to the top of his chair and beamed down at him, “I don't have it, I mean it's weird but I don't.”

“Rainbow kissed, bunny bouncing?” Josh echoed with mirth. He was standing in the centre of the aisle, having manoeuvred there at the sound of Cadence's voice, determined to get a good view of the show. He glanced to Sam and smiled.

Sam was standing to the right looking equal parts stunned and nervous. His gaze dipped pointedly to Leo's seat.

Cadence giggled again. “Oh Charlie these seats are so soft, I mean I heard it was nice in here and that if you have to fly, fly presidential but damn, it's all so nice.” She stood upright again and squished her kitten heeled brown shoes into the carpet. “I mean even the floor is nice, I bet it would be nice to stroke, like a bunny.”

Charlie stood up from his seat instinctively as Cadence went to lean down.

The Vice President's team was standing behind her looking appropriately bewildered and annoyed. John's Chief of Staff Cal Mathis took a step forward and took Cadence's right arm tightly in his hand.

“You need to get to a seat,” he ordered bluntly.

“You don't need to hold her so tightly,” Charlie commented disapprovingly.

Leo jumped up from his seat, discarding the paper sloppily to his table. 

“Oh God what was she given? She needed something to calm her not send her into some hippie fairy fantasy!” he exclaimed.

Josh took a step back from the sight as he raised a hand to his mouth to hide his smile. 

Leo stepped into the aisle, bypassing John to approach Cal and Cadence. “Cady honey, I said for you to get something from the medic because of your fear of flying, didn't she give you instructions on how much to take?”

Cadence smiled and shrugged. “I mean maybe but I mean dad I really, really hate flying I mean once you've been in one plane crash.” She moved her free hand up in the air and then down rapidly with a humming noise for dramatic effect. “Well you know.”

“What?” Leo stared at her in shock. “Cadence what the hell are you talking about? You've never been in a plane crash, have you?”

“Josh let's go,” Sam addressed his co-worker quietly. 

Sam still bore a serious stare only now there was a hint of pity in it as he wondered at Cadence's words just like Leo. If she had really been in such a traumatic event he couldn't blame her for being doped out to endure another flight.

Josh, shocked and sobered by Cadence's words, nodded to Josh and the pair headed off quietly.

Cadence's palm shot up to cover her mouth. “Oops,” she sounded out through her fingers. She glanced about her surroundings with a wide eyed look as her hand fell away. “You know maybe I still don't want to go flying after all um...” She tried to turn round but Cal's firm grasp prevented her.

“John, why don't you send your team on,” Jed suggested calmly, “we have delayed long enough and I am sure the press are anxious to board. Charlie, maybe you can take Cady to get some hot milk or something before take off.”

John resented the orders but he could see Jed's point.

Cadence was now trying to make eye contact with her father and failing as she kept turning her head about to look at other things. “It's way too shiny in here,” she complained. “Dad I just didn't want to freak out and embarrass you and Jed,” she murmured. “I mean Mr. President, tricky titles. I'm trying to be good this time.” She dipped her head before turning back up to Leo with a look of dismay. “Have I messed up already?” she queried quietly.

“No Cady,” Jed answered before Leo could. He was standing now as well. “You have a fear of flying, for reasons we are definitely going to talk about at a later time, and you're trying to conquer it for your job, that's an admirable thing. However,” he added with a small smile, “the press really doesn't need to see how you're treating it so go with Charlie please.”

Jed gestured a hand out to Charlie.

“Can I take your hand ma'am?” Charlie queried cordially.

“Cady, Charlie, we agreed on that,” she corrected.

Cal frowned at the younger man. He was annoyed that he wasn't getting trusted to escort the young woman, even though it was also a relief to pass on her burden and he didn't like how Charlie's respectfulness seemed to be an unvoiced dig at his bluntness.

Cal released the woman.

“Charlie you're too nice,” Cadence murmured as she extended her hand. “Can we have cookies with that milk? Ones with raisins or oatmeal.”

“If you promise not to offer me the crumbs then sure,” Charlie responded with a smile.

Charlie escorted the woman down the aisle past her still stunned father and her nonplussed

boss.

Cadence had come in a separate car to John to the airport so he hadn't exactly had much time to digest her state. He wasn't sure for the reason behind it until her confession to Leo and now he didn't know what to think. He knew, like Leo and Jed, that it had to have been an incident within the past couple of years and it had him wondering yet again, where the hell had she been and what had she been doing?

Once Cadence and Charlie were gone, John led his party on to their sitting quarters. 

Leo sat down slowly with a dumbfounded expression. “What did she mean by that?” he queried softly as he stared forward in horror. “I mean I never heard anything, Mal or Jenny never said anything. No one even said anything about her being in an accident or a hospital.”

“We'll find out Leo,” Jed assured. “Let's wait until after Texas though, this trip was her idea and whilst the over indulgence of medication might be a minor setback we shouldn't hold it against her. She's young and nervous and trying hard to impress you, just let her know we're glad she got on the plane.”

Leo nodded but he wasn't fully listening.

It was twenty minutes later than they were ready for take off. Charlie had resumed his seat and assured Leo and Jed that Cadence was fine and secure in her own. Still they worried how she was going to deal with take off.

John was worried too, which was why he had insisted she join him and had dismissed his chief of staff to sit with the rest of his team. 

Cadence sat on John's left, away from the window and close to the aisle. She was tightening her seatbelt for the fourth time as the drugs struggled to beat back her nerves.

“I really wish you'd warned me you were going to show up to work stoned,” he chided her quietly. He gazed over at her and felt the corners of his mouth turning up to a small grin. It was dreadful but Cadence's state had lifted his mood. He had been dreading this flight, sharing a plane with the President against protocol because it would look good to Texas. Hell he was dreading the entire trip, wary that Jed had only agreed to it so he could publicly use and abuse John for being a Texan. Yet he was looking forward to it as well because there was an opportunity for him to win Texas to his side if not Jed's, to show them not just his gentleman charm but his political strength and intelligence, his determination, and his loyalty to his state.

Cadence leaned forward and looked past John to the window wearily. “I wish I had taken a little less,” she murmured. “This chair needs a cushion,” she complained. 

Cadence jumped when the plane started to move forward and her face turned chalk white.

“Do you have your tape player with you?” John pried.

Cadence's nails sank into the edges of her chair as she nodded rapidly. She was looking directly forward now, eyes wide with alarm.

“You should play it when we're in the air, it will help your nerves,” John advised.

Cadence shook her head at this. “No electronic devices on during a flight, it's bad.”

“It's only during take off and landing, and it's fine,” John reassured, “and I'm intrigued to find out what new playlists you have come up with.”

Cadence glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “No, no electronic devices on a flight, it's bad for the mechanics.”

The plane started to hum loudly and suddenly sped up.

Cadence let out a yelp of terror.

John reached across to her with one hand and took hers loosely in his. “It's just the take off,” he reassured.

Cadence gripped John's hand so fiercely he found himself swallowing down a wince of pain. “I really don't like this, I want my rainbows back,” she complained.

A gasp escaped the woman as the plane abandoned the tarmac and became airborne. She closed her eyes tightly and began murmuring, “think of raccoons, think of raccoons and their stripy tails.”

John gave a small laugh at this and shook his head. “Never understood why you liked those vermin.”

John thought back to just under two years ago when a raccoon had been spotted sniffing around the trash outside the office block he had claimed for his campaign headquarters. He had delegated someone to get pest control. 

Two nights later John had spied the thing still there, only this time it was helping itself to a bowl of what looked like cat nibble. After complaining about it the next day and threatening to call pest control himself, Cadence had jumped up and told John he couldn't because the raccoon was called Rico and had a girlfriend.

John had wanted to admonish Cadence as she faced him down in front of his entire team, pleading for the life of a raccoon and telling him crossly that he was the intruder anyway because the alleyway was the raccoon's home. Josh had been there, openly laughing and driving John that little bit angrier with humiliation at being talked down to by this young student about a pest of all things. John couldn't tell her off though because Cadence had been beautiful in her passion, a little eccentric sure, but definitely beautiful and in the end all John could do was laugh and make a mock threat that Rico better stay outdoors or he was going to be turned into a scarf.

“They look like little bandits,” Cadence mused with a smile.

The plane shuddered as it pushed through the clouds.

Cadence almost stopped the blood circulation to John's hand as she whimpered. Her grasp was icy cold and only then did John spy the goosebumps on her bare legs.

He felt warm and wondered if the bumps on her skin came from nerves rather than cold. He studied her long, fair legs with familiarity before his gaze travelled up to her arms. She had worn long sleeved tops when they had first met irregardless of the weather and it had taken him more than a few tries to get her to shed one. When she finally had she had sat looking tired and ashamed, head bowed as she had let him survey the pink lines on her inner arms.

John had thought about it for a while and asked her a few questions. After a while he had told her to wear short sleeved tops if she wanted because her scars showed what she had survived and overcome. He had figured privately that it was an advantage to his team not an embarrassment, and a show of how he embraced someone with previous mental health problems and tried to help them on a new course in life.

It had taken a couple of weeks before Cadence had taken his advice and shown up wearing a beguiling, cream, silk vest top. There had been a few looks but they had been brief. Her scars were faint and few and people had better things to do than wonder about them. 

Now John wondered if she had added anymore to them. He hoped not.

When the seatbelt signs turned off, Cadence still kept hers on. She was breathing hard and staring dead ahead into some imagined void and didn't react to the stewardess approaching them. 

John had released her hand a few minutes ago, wary of who could approach them now with the seatbelt signs off. 

He looked up to the stewardess, smiled and ordered a water. “Get one for her too please,” he added with a gesture to Cadence, “and a blanket, she's cold.”

Cadence was giving minute trembles but it was still hard to tell if she was merely cold, terrified or both.

“Certainly Mr Vice President,” the stewardess said politely before she nodded and hurried off.

It didn't take long before the water and blanket arrived. The stewardess deposited Cadence's water and blanket on a table beside her.

Once she was gone, John took a deep gulp from his water and then stood up from his seat. He approached Cadence and reached for the blanket. With haste, he opened it out and bundled it about her before anyone else could approach them and see.

“Cady, I'm going to go and talk about business with Cal,” he informed her. “Are you feeling any better?”

Cadence swallowed hard. “Less bunny bouncing and more stomach churning,” she murmured. “Um I think, is it bad luck to sleep on planes?” She glanced up to him curiously. “I don't know about that one.”

“No, it's a good thing,” he assured. 

She smiled faintly. “Right, good luck maybe, hopefully. Alright then, sleep.”

John nodded before he headed off to join the rest of his team.


	6. Trigger Happy

Austin, Texas- capital city of Texas, it had emerged from the stereotype of Texas as a home of cattle barons and cowboys by entering the technology scene with wide success. It had even gained the nickname Silicon Hills because so many businesses had found success here. Knowing that and seeing the variety of towering blocks that formed the modern city didn't lift Jed's hopes much or dispel the notion for Josh that their Texas trip was going to be one big country fest of humouring gun nut hicks.

When they arrived at the prestigious and Romanesque Driskill Hotel, shortly after midnight, it bolstered hopes a little. It wasn't the stereotypical timber cabin themed hotel Josh had been expecting and Cadence had been secretly hoping for. The hotel was stately, light brown and white in the daylight, the night cast it in shades of grey that made it almost castle like with its European styled arches and points, although the white balconies and columns added an element of Southern country estate to its style.

The hotel manager was waiting by the open doors and the Secret Service team had done the once over and were now standing at post as the President stepped out to enter first.

The press did their bit of taking photographs, all the while knowing nothing ever looked great at night no matter how well the supporting light. Everyone was tired, including the journalists, and relieved when the President didn't dally too long with greetings, although he was appropriately warm and cheerful to their host.

Danny felt a sense of intrigue as he readied for the Vice President's party. The red haired correspondent figured it was probably the first time in a while that Hoynes' group had interested him. He stepped forward, ahead of the press pool as the senior White House correspondent, putting himself in a good position to ask questions, just in case.

He had left it to a lesser journalist to ask President Bartlet if he was happy to be in Texas, knowing the response would be blunt, brief and entirely staged. Of course he wasn't, he hated Texas, and everyone knew it. Hoynes however was a native and Danny was eager to see if the VP was going to use this opportunity to seize some support for himself or if he was going to behave and earn some gold stars for his boss.

More importantly, Danny wanted to see Hoynes' new employee first hand. Word had spread down the plane that the VP's newbie had a fear of flying. Some slightly loose lips on Hoynes' team had also let it slip to the press how unimpressive and little liked she was thought of by them. Danny had ignored that, she was Leo McGarry's daughter, of course no one was going to want her on board initially.

Danny hadn't done much research on her, her post was minor and probably down to nepotism. The redhead figured she wouldn't do much or be allowed to do much for that matter except exist in a good job in a token gesture to Leo. Now the reporter wondered if she was what they were trying to cover up when boarding the plane, had her phobia caused her to make a fuss?

John Hoynes was walking forward, appearing in a brighter mood than he had been boarding despite the lateness of the hour.

Danny manoeuvred himself before the VP. “What's it like to back in Texas Mr. Vice President?” Danny queried.

“Any state of America is a visit to pleasure Danny,” John retorted neutrally.

“But you grew up here, no special attachment?”

“I lived in Abilene,” John corrected him, “and whilst they are both cities in Texas that begin with A, I wouldn't say that's the same thing. Texas cities and towns are all full of their own character,” he added with a bright gaze. “Austin is full of culture, make sure you take it in while you are with us.”

Danny gave a small smile at this, it looked harmless but it was a way of Danny showing his annoyance without actually showing it. Overall he was a laid back person, he had learned the age old practice of catching more flies with honey than vinegar. Only C.J could bring his real anger out of him and that was generally for personal reasons not professional.

“Okay,” Danny said cheerfully.

Danny glanced back to John's party, he spied Cadence grouped to the back, the unwanted runt of the herd left for the scavengers to prey on.

If the woman minded the rejection from her own team she wasn't showing it. She walked briskly, wide eyes spying out the streets of Austin with a sense of wonder to them. She looked tired but happy, swinging her arms and bouncing her feet as if she was about to break into skipping at any moment.

“Miss McGarry,” Danny called to her. “This is your first trip out of state on your new job, what are your thoughts on Austin so far?”

Danny gave her an encouraging smile, it was a smile that had often presented him as ally to the less suspicious and more gullible members of the White House.

Cadence blinked over at him in confusion, thrown by the title of 'Miss McGarry', she was getting it more often these days but it was still an adjustment.

“I couldn't form a judgement on it with hardly having seen it,” she retorted happily. She kept walking as she talked, matching the others' brisk pace as they prepared to enter the hotel. “The buildings are very tall and the hotel looks like a chocolate cake,” she added with a grin.

Danny laughed but even he wasn't sure how sincere his response was as he wondered at the sincerity of hers.

The meet and greets were brief before everyone was separated and led off to their hotel rooms.

Before Cadence could disappear into hers for a much needed sleep, she was stopped by her father who had followed after her.

Leo took his daughter by the arm, turning her back from her hotel room door.

“Cadence are you alright?” Leo queried with a worried look. “You didn't do very well when the plane was landing, I heard you were screaming.”

Cadence frowned, wondering which of John's team had spread that story. “Not exactly screaming, that's a bit exaggerative,” she grumbled. “You know, some loud whimpering maybe.”

“Cady,” Leo said as he continued to stare at her with concern.

“We landed dad and we're off the plane so I'm good,” she reassured with a smile. “Just let me go to bed and I'll be grand in the morning, promise.” She widened her smile to ease his woes.

Leo nodded and released her arm. “Alright, well look I'm only um...well I'm across at the other side of the hotel and one floor up but it's not far. Room 57, you can ring anytime.”

“In case I have a nightmare?” she quipped teasingly. “Dad, I'm not six years old anymore, I'm okay.”

“You're my little girl no matter what age you are,” Leo insisted, “you and Mallory both. You need me, you call,” he added firmly.

Cadence resisted the urge to scorn her father's concern, she couldn't fault him for making an effort to be a good father and it wasn't like he was undermining her job, there was no else in the corridor to hear him.

“Night dad,” she said gently.

“Night Cady.”

Leo departed, heading for the long hallway that would take him through the hotel to his side of the building.

\---

Breakfast had begun at seven o'clock sharp in a fine dining area that was usually reserved for dinners but had been opened up for its esteemed political guests. Designed as an evening room, it had darker tones with wooden panelling on the walls and ceiling and rich maroon carpet patterned with the gold stars of Texas.

C.J, good at being a morning person because her job demanded it but not an early eater, was unimpressed by the hoard of food Sam and Josh brought to their shared table. Their table, designed for fine wine glasses and perfectly portioned dishes looked dangerously overloaded when Sam and Josh unloaded their breakfast onto it.

They sat together with Toby who wasn't a morning person but made it hard to tell as he bore the same frown he had on throughout most of the day. Sometimes C.J wondered if Toby simply wasn't a day or night person but perhaps only welcomed joy at one selective point of the day for a brief five minutes before his natural setting of cynical misery took over again.

“Are you boys hungry?” C.J queried mockingly as she eyed up the offering of breakfast delights they had taken from the buffet.

For them, the lesser staff, it was a buffet, for the President, the Vice President, Leo and Cal, it was table service.

Josh toyed with a bagel thoughtfully before he grinned in Cadence's direction. His adversary was seated with her co-workers and yet somehow she was very much alone, still the outsider on Hoynes' team. Three co-workers talked happily amongst themselves whilst she sat on the edge of their table in silence. She seemed unperturbed by it as she studied a collection of notes and sipped calmly at a cup of coffee.

“You know what I heard,” Josh said excitedly. “Sandra, Hoynes' speechwriter, says a few of Hoynes' team put in calls to have room service wake Cadence at two in the morning, then three, then four.” He laughed. “They really don't like her.”

“Well that's mature,” Toby scorned as he eyed up a fried egg with displeasure. It was a little too runny for his liking. “It's not like Sandra knows much anyway, Hoynes usually writes his own speeches. I'm fairly certain she was hired for her looks.”

“Just like Sam,” C.J joked. “But isn't arranging prank calls hazing?” she quipped as she glanced to Josh. “Also, Josh, Cadence seems fine as a person. I mean I don't really know her-”

“Don't really know her?” Josh echoed with disbelief as he took a seat. “Guys you met her when Leo courted Hoynes, right as that thesis story broke.”

C.J shrugged and gave Josh a serious stare across the table. “You know what Josh, I'm going to say it, she seemed alright then too. Why hold one mistake like that against her?” she demanded in a serious tone. “We have all made mistakes, even here in our current roles. It's called being human and it's nice to see another woman break into this man's world of politics,” she added scornfully.

“It's not a man's world,” Toby grumbled, “just a world for the more educated of people.”

“Toby I swear to God, I'm not going to have my intelligence patronised before noon,” C.J warned him. “We employ roughly fifty women you know, to about a thousand men, do the maths there Mr. Educated.”

Josh smiled before turning his attention to his food. “Okay, don't say I didn't warn you about Benedict Arnold though.”

“Warn us about what?” C.J sneered. “Her master plan to put Hoynes on the throne? Josh come on, you're just sore because this plan was hers and it's good.”

“Tell me that when we visit the ranch,” Josh retorted moodily.

Sam glanced over at the young woman. He felt sorry for sitting aloof to her colleagues but admired the dignity she bore it with. She seemed genuinely deep in her studies and he pondered the possibility that maybe she wanted the solitude.

“You would think at least one member of Hoynes' team could extend the olive branch,” Sam murmured. “I mean they have decent people, Jeremy and Gavin are good fun and Tanya.”

“Tanya?” Josh scoffed. “Sam you're only saying that because you fancy her.” Josh snickered as he pointed towards the right.

The table was occupied by two members of Hoynes' team, including a statuesque woman who, although tall, was still shorter than C.J, and had a spill of inky black hair pooling over her shoulders.

“There she is, go tell her how nice she is Sam,” Josh teased.

“She can be,” Sam said stubbornly, “at least to me. She agrees with my viewpoints on the budget and she praised my last speech.”

“Sam, don't make me lose my appetite already,” Toby remarked in a dry manner as he gave his subordinate a wilting look.

Seeing the President stand, they all prepared to stand as well but he waved them back down. “At ease people,” he commanded. “I just wanted to say good morning to you and ask if you know a little bit about the history of where you are dining right now.”

Josh let out a groan. “Not another history lesson,” he lamented.

“I want to have a little fun with this,” Jed continued with a smile, “since it's not often the Vice President and I travel together. So I'm going to educate you with a questions and answers session, let's see who knows more about this fine establishment, my team or the Vice President's.” He gave them a friendly wave. “All in good fun of course but I will be disappointed if the Vice President's team don't impress me given their boss is from Texas.”

Jed gave a sideways glance down to John as he added, “I'll wonder if he hasn't been teaching you guys anything.”

John smiled at the jibe. He had already mentally prepared himself last night to put on the mask of friendship with the President.

Toby sat upright in his seat with a serious stare. “And suddenly I'm interested,” he said confidently.

“Alright, an easy one to start,” Jed began, “who founded this lovely hotel here? Come on now, just shout it out, clue's in the name.”

“Oh I read this in the hotel booklet last night,” C.J said enthusiastically.

“You read the booklet?” Sam queried in disbelief as he and Josh both regarded her like she had two heads.

“I couldn't sleep,” she protested as she gave Sam a defensive look. “Oh. Colonel Jesse Driskill Mr. President!” she cried out enthusiastically as she turned to face her boss' table.

Jed smiled with pride. “Very good C.J and for a bonus point, what was his profession?”

“Uh a colonel?” C.J queried doubtfully.

Jed laughed. “Not quite.”

“Cattle baron sir,” Sam called out, “I saw something about it in the lobby.”

“And you made fun of me for reading before bed?” C.J snapped at him with an accusing stare.

“I wasn't in bed when I read it!” Sam retaliated.

“Very good Sam, that's two for my side John, keep count,” Jed teased the VP as he gave him a smile.

Leo was silent, trying to resist the urge to burrow his head in his hands at the display. Jed would call it 'team building' but Leo called it 'antagonising'.

“Here's a fun question,” Jed continued enthusiastically, “why did the women have a special entrance when the hotel was built?”

“To avoid the men?” Gavin Drake, the Deputy Chief of Staff on Hoynes' team, queried humorously with a smile.

There was a murmur of laughter before Jed shook his head.

“No I'm not giving you that one, you're not quite there.”

“To avoid the vulgar talk of the men,” Sandra piped up with a smile.

Jed pointed in her direction. “Bingo! To avoid the talking of cattle specifically, I tell you, you can modernise Texas but the cattle stories will endure.”

“Sir,” Leo protested quietly. He was all too aware of the hotel staff listening in and was wary of Jed letting his personal feelings on Texas out in the open again.

“Which President enjoyed staying here?” Jed ignored Leo and moved to the next question.

“Oh I read about this!” Sam said eagerly. He snapped his fingers and frowned as he tried to remember it.

C.J looked at him across the table with an expression of disgust. “You're a bookworm,” she scorned him.

“Oh I know this one. Lyndon B Johnson sir!” Toby called loudly with enthusiasm.

“A Texan, of course,” Josh groaned as he slid his hands up into his brown curls.

“That's right Toby.” Jed glanced down at John. “Your people aren't doing very well, one more question to give them a chance?”

“Sure sir,” John retorted amicably.

“Alright, let's finish with a hard one,” Jed suggested as faced the group again. “It's three to one but I'll make this question worth two points so there's a chance to finish on a tie. How did Colonel Driskill lose this hotel?”

There was a moment of murmurings but no one seemed quite ready to settle on an answer.

Josh looked up from the table and surveyed the room briefly to see if anyone else was going to try for an answer. “That's a trick question sir,” he answered calmly. “The rumour says he lost it in a poker game to his brother-in-law Doc Day but actually he was forced to sell it to him because he lost his fortune after a severe drought and bad winter cost him over three thousand of his cattle.”

“Brilliant Josh!” Jed remarked cheerfully. “You got yourself both points. I'm sad to say that means our Vice President's team has lost but I'm hopeful you all learned a little bit of history today.”

John masked his disappointment well as he smiled agreeably at the group.

Leo couldn't quite hide his frown from the President, knowing the sting of his words was deliberate.

Two people at Cadence's table eyed her up with stares of irritation. One of them complained loudly to her, “wasn't this trip your idea, didn't you do some research for it?”

Cadence ignored the jibe and continued perusing her notes.

Leo stood up from the table at last. “Anyway, we all have a lot of work to do,” he announced loudly. “Those of you who are joining us to meet with Senator Whyte, please have yourselves ready and waiting at the cars.”

It took just ten minutes for everyone to be out and ready to go visit the senator. They were all dismayed to see the heavy, dark grey clouds that were rolling in overhead.

“Well this is ominous,” Josh murmured as he gazed upwards. He felt a prickle of annoyance that Sam and Toby were getting to sit this one out to prepare for the speeches that would be required tonight when they attended a ball in the hotel with the governor and his people.

“Could be worse,” C.J retorted.

“How?”

“I don't know, could be hailstones or a tornado, just be positive Josh.”

Josh gazed at her and frowned. “You know if it hails I'm going to blame you.”

“Right.”

\---

Leo glanced at his watch. It was just after three in the afternoon and already the day was a perfect disaster. Senator Matt Whyte was every bit the cliché Jed had expected- a no-nonsense, stubborn, tight ass. If they had shared the same beliefs they might have been friends but Whyte was an extremist apparently and worse, a man without etiquette having happily called Jed a liberal blowhard to his face.

They were touring the senator's ranch as a goodwill gesture, a sign of friendship but all it had managed to bring, was the hilarious image of educated suits stumbling through mud, manure and puddles as the heavens opened upon them. More than that, the senator had a sick sense of humour and in the interest of embracing the Texan culture he had produced a few of the cowboy hats Jed had openly criticised, offering them as 'gifts' to his visitors.

Since the President wasn't going to go native, Josh had to take one for the team. Of course this had only been after C.J had told him very quietly and softly in a tone that he knew promised pain 'no way'. C.J hadn't needed to add a curse, the threat was clear in her gaze as she used her height to intimidate Josh. As Josh's counterpart, Gavin was forced to don the other one.

Leo knew showing the President and his party up as city folk who didn't understand their rural voters was exactly what Whyte wanted and he was fearful of the President losing his temper any minute now. Their only salvation was John who hadn't bristled at the insults shared his way or made much of a comment as his shined shoes were sullied with mud but even the Vice President was struggling to negotiate anything with the stubborn senator.

They were all just grateful that the press wasn't privy to this meeting. The photo display would come later in the evening when the senator and his companions joined them at the hotel for a ball.

“Can we go somewhere dry?” Jed demanded.

Although Charlie was keeping him dry with a large umbrella, it wasn't doing much for the smell of animal faeces that surrounded them or the bedraggled, drenched staff who weren't so privileged as to have someone shelter them with an umbrella.

Charlie was a little more interested in the ranch than the others. Although the stench was just as unpleasant to him he considered how fortunate an opportunity it was to escape the White House and see another state, and it was all paid for.

“Sure Mr. President, I forgot you weren't used to this kind of rain up in Washington, or rather you're not used to being out in it,” Matt retorted with a taunting grin.

Matt Whyte was even dressed as the stereotype, he wore a form of a suit, pale grey with a white shirt but he had also added a brown cowboy hat and brown cowboy boots to his attire as well as two prominently displayed pistols, which shone a polished silver even in the dimness of the day.

John, recalling Whyte from when he had lived in Texas, was more than a little suspicious that the man was dressed this way to yank the President's chain. He knew the man actually spent most of his time in the city and usually dressed as a businessman without the ranch attire. He was trying to get a reaction, something public and embarrassing that would set the Texan people gnashing their teeth at their leader yet again.

“Matt,” John addressed him calmly, “we are used to all kinds of weather, not just in Washington but all round the world. The President was in South American suffering monsoons just two weeks ago.”

Jed raised his eyebrows slightly as he shot John a questioning look that went unnoticed. He was surprised for the save and gratified for it.

Matt nodded as he bit back a frown. “Alright, we'll talk in the house then.”

They headed for the house eagerly. Despite having the longest legs and being the most desperate for shelter, C.J hung back, knowing she couldn't very well charge in before the President and Vice President.

“Hey John Wayne,” she remarked to Josh sardonically, “how do you think this is going?”

“Well C.J if that's the best you can come up with not well,” Josh retorted wearily. He tipped his tan hat up to her and smiled.

The press secretary smiled back. “I'm going to enjoy telling Toby and Sam how adorable you looked playing Lone Ranger.”

“At least it's keeping my hair dry,” Josh retorted stubbornly. He eyed C.J's damp locks pointedly.

The woman's hair was plastered close to her soaked cheeks and she had long since given up trying to push it off.

They stepped into the house, pausing to wipe their shoes on the mat, although it was pointless given the small size of it and the amount of mud they had to trek in.

The senator led them through to a private sitting area that had only a single door of entry and no windows.

C.J held back a frown as she took in the room's idea of décor. Stuffed animals lined the fireplace whilst a few furry heads were mounted on the walls. There was also a collection of mounted guns, some looking older than the Union. Adding to the testosterone the room screamed with was a crystal decanter of brandy and glasses.

With the President, the Vice President, the senator, Leo, Cal, Josh, Gavin, C.J, Jeremy and the Secret Service, the room was entirely too small looking. Only two Secret Service agents had come into it whilst the rest waited outside, with Charlie, and some were on patrol outside the building.

Senator Whyte offered the head of the table to the President.

“Can I offer you anything?” the senator quipped as he sat.

“How about terms?” Jed was straight to the point. “You know I can't do a U-turn on gun control and I don't want to.”

“Well that's a restriction on the Second Amendment,” the senator retaliated calmly. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

“That is bull, you guys always hide behind that amendment when it comes to guns,” Jed grumbled. “You want everyone to have a gun and that's ludicrous, not everyone is sensible enough to have one.”

“Oh that's right,” the senator sneered with a wide, bitter smile that stretched across his wrinkled face, “we're all too stupid here for guns, idiot hicks, isn't that what you think Mr. President?”

“Now senator don't go putting words in the President's mouth,” Leo warned. “We have come here on good terms, let's not go down this road. Let's meet in the middle.”

The senator shook his head. “I have no reason to, you're talking about people's rights here, the right to choose to buy a gun, the right to protect themselves, the right-”

“To sell guns,” John interrupted coolly.

The Vice President was seated to Jed's left, on the opposite side of Leo. He had kept a calm, quiet appearance as the others bickered, watching them with a keen blue stare as if waiting on something.

Leo wondered if this was what John had been waiting for and he worried.

“Yes,” Senator Whyte retorted.

Josh gave him a sharp look, catching the slight unease the senator had let slip into his voice.

“Specifically that's what you are talking about,” John continued, “and why you aren't going to win this.”

“What are you talking about?” the senator growled back as his dark eyes narrowed in anger.

“What are you talking about Mr. Vice President,” John retorted icily, “don't forget when you address me you address the office of the Vice President.”

C.J tensed at those words and resisted an urge to roll her eyes at John's arrogance. He had used the same phrasing on her before. She saw it as an egotistical desperation by the man not to be ignored or displaced because he wasn't number one, he needed the world to know that number two still mattered.

John kept a frosty blue stare on the senator as he continued, his voice tranquil as he uttered a condemning accusation. “You have shares in Bryant & Co, one of the top producers and sellers of automatic weapons in the United States, a company that took some damage when the bill to restrict the sales of automatic weapons was passed because automatics are their speciality.”

Josh filled with shock as he tensed in his seat. His dark gaze shot over to C.J with alarm.

C.J looked back to Josh with equal surprise. They were both wondering the same thing, how the hell did John know this, what proof did he have, and why hadn't it been run by them first?

“You have created this fiasco not for public welfare but for profit and I imagine the people of Texas would take a very dim view to their human rights being exploited as a pawn for money,” John concluded.

“Do you have any proof of this nonsense?” the senator retorted. He had turned an odd shade of grey and his hands had curled into trembling fists on the table top.

“Your face lends a certain degree of evidence to things,” Jed responded carefully. He and Leo were both keeping their surprise from their faces. John had dumped them in it and now they had to stand by his accusation so they didn't look foolish.

“This is the White House you are addressing Senator Whyte,” John reminded him, “we have access to all the evidence that will be required to expose this.”

“We still have a ball to conclude,” Leo reminded all of them.

“Senator why don't we end things amicably,” Jed suggested. “You drop this gun rights nonsense and we won't expose our beliefs that your shares in automatic weapons may possibly be connected to your belief in the rights to buy and, more specifically, sell guns to whoever in the hell you seem to feel like it.” Jed's voice rose an octave as he lost his composure slightly and his rage slipped into it.

Jed wasn't just angry with the senator, he was raging with John for using evidence he hadn't discussed with Jed first. He fumed to himself that once again John was trying to look like the better man.

“I think you could maybe re-consider how good it is to better vet who you sell to as well,” Jed suggested with a smile.

Josh stood up from his seat quickly. “May I go to the toilet,” he said hastily.

The senator waved him off with one hand. “Sure, out, left and then second on the right,” he murmured without looking at him. He was still grey and trembling.

Josh bolted off, ignoring C.J's questioning look as he did. It was time for damage control.

Instead of looking for a toilet, Josh manoeuvred to the phone he had spied sitting in an alcove beside a grotesque stuffed hare. Josh took a seat on the low chair beside the phone, plucked off his cowboy hat and discarded it on the hare.

Josh dialled the hotel and asked the receptionist for Sam or Toby.

“Hey Josh,” Toby's montone voice greeted him, “how's the weather?”

“Swell Toby, how do you think?” Josh retorted in annoyance. “Where's Sam?”

“You asked for either of us,” Toby retorted defensively.

“I know but where is he?”

“Talking with Tanya.”

Josh pressed hand to his brow and dragged it slowly down his face. “I'm sorry, could you repeat that, we must have a bad connection.”

“You heard Josh,” Toby responded wearily. “Anyway, how is it going?”

“It's not going well,” Josh confessed moodily in a hushed tone, “the weather, the President, this Whyte guy, it's a mess.”

“Well we knew that,” Toby responded calmly.

“No Toby, this guy only agreed to this so he could have the President in his home territory to humiliate him. It's worse though or maybe better, I don't know, Hoynes just accused him of wanting slack gun laws because he has shares in a company called Bryant & Co, apparently a big seller of automatic arms.”

“What?! Josh what are you talking about?” Toby snapped. “I never about any of this.”

“No us either, it doesn't really add up even for Hoynes, it's only a sly move with an audience but he's not going to get credit for this unless the President goes public and honestly, he's not hiding how pissed he is at Hoynes for this. I mean, if it's true it's great but this still should have been run by us first.”

“If?” Josh could hear Toby suppressing the coronary. “What do you mean if Josh?”

“Well Toby I don't know who Hoynes' source is on this, so I really need you and Sam to put a rush on this so we don't end up with egg on our face because someone didn't fact check correctly, the same someone who obviously didn't think the White House's communication team needed this run by them first.”

“Right, we're on it Sam.”

“See you soon Toby.”

Josh hung the phone. He escaped the alcove and frowned at the hat wearing hare before reluctantly plucking the accessory up again. It was damp in his hand and he couldn't face putting it on again so he carried it in his right hand as he moved slowly back the way he retreated, wincing at the noise of the rain on the rooftop.

\---

It was just after six when the source of Hoynes' revelation was revealed. John gamely gave up the name before he entered his car to return to the hotel, he assumed protocol had been followed. No one bothered to correct him, instead Josh and C.J hastened to their vehicle without a word, knowing who was going to deal with it now.

The President simply growled to Leo, “make sure it was the truth Leo and get her taught on how to do things around here.”

Leo, who was wearing the perfect face of fury, just nodded before he got into the car.

Closer to seven they arrived back to the hotel where Leo immediately summoned Cadence, Josh, Sam, Toby and C.J into a board room on the ground floor. He left one Secret Service agent outside to prevent them from being interrupted.

Leo stood at the top of the table but didn't make any move to sit or suggest they sat. His face was drawn, and his grey eyes were hard with rage.

Josh, C.J, Sam and Toby were all finding it very hard not to look at Cadence. They stood in one corner of the room near the door and she in the other. Sam and Toby had guessed from her mere presence amongst them that she had to be the source.

“Cadence,” Leo addressed her sharply, “at our meeting today something very dangerous and risky happened. The Vice President made one hell of an accusation to Senator Whyte, a suggestion that his only interest in gun control was profit. What do you know about that?” he snapped.

Cadence looked surprised before she spoke.

“Dad,” Cadence began.

“When we are at work, I am Mr. McGarry to you!” Leo shouted it as he felt his own temper finally giving way.

C.J flinched back slightly, she had seen Leo mad but she didn't think she had heard him shout like that. When someone needed to shout it was usually Toby.

Cadence to her credit flinched just briefly before drawing herself upright and fixing a cool expression to her face. It was difficult for her to hide the sheen in her eyes however.

“Mr. McGarry,” Cadence began stiffly, “it is the truth. Senator Whyte's name is attached to many shares in Bryant & Co, more than that, he has been seen doing site visits to their Texas branch, he has an investment in there too.”

“That may be Cadence but when you have something like that you don't take it directly to Hoynes,” Leo snapped as he gestured to the others, “you take it to these people here. They run the White House and it is up to them to confirm this information before we run with it and risk humiliation or worse, litigation if it's inaccurate! More than that, the President should have the say in who presents this sensitive information and when and how.”

Leo frowned at his daughter with displeasure. “Cadence you are on Hoynes' team but you serve at the pleasure of the President. Now I must say, I'm very let down by your lack of protocol with this. Your information may have been good and served a purpose but this was not how it should have been dealt with. Do you know how difficult it was for the President to conceal his surprise? You had it look like Hoynes knew something he didn't, that's not a good show to present to the senator, especially not when our goal is expressing unity.”

Cadence nodded quietly along.

“Right well, you need to go now,” Leo dismissed her.

Cadence turned and hastened from the room without a word.

Josh wanted to smile at her but he couldn't and when his mocking stare flickered in Leo's direction a glower from his boss let him know that a humorous quip would not be tolerated.

“Right, you four, the President wants to talk about this,” Leo said. “Is it good information?”

“It is,” Sam said, “and Leo, I know it's a little out of turn to say but was it so bad coming from Hoynes? If the President had done that wouldn't it seem like he was purposely trying to find fault with the senator simply because he doesn't like Texans who like guns? At least with Hoynes, as a Texan, we could put it across that he's trying to root corruption out of Texas, maybe express that he is more laid back with the views of gun control.”

Leo frowned but nodded anyway. “I'll get the President, you four wait here.”

Leo departed from the room.


	7. Can't Do Right for Wrong

Gavin followed Josh into the elevator as he prepared to head upstairs to get ready for dinner.

Josh glanced over at his counterpart awkwardly. Gavin Drake was part of the well-groomed, well-bred and well-educated group that made up Hoynes' elite team members. He was tall, toned in that gentlemanly manner that suggested a man into his health but not obsessed with the gym and he still bore a spark of energy to him as whilst he had surpassed thirty he had not yet been slowed down by forty.

Gavin stood with his hands behind his back, poised as he stared straight ahead at the closed doors.

They waited uncomfortably, saved from silence by bad elevator music. Thankfully they only ascended one floor before Josh exited.

Gavin followed after him as Josh knew he would. Their rooms were on opposing sides of the building, there was no need for Gavin to have been in the elevator with him if he didn't want to speak to him.

“You all looked shocked to hear about the senator's gun shares today,” Gavin remarked calmly.

Josh rolled his eyes up to the ceiling as he continued to walk and wondered if there were any cameras in the hall to eavesdrop. “Of course we were,” he retorted sardonically, “but you weren't?” He glanced over his shoulder at Gavin questioningly.

Gavin gave a small smile and shook his head. “Cadence brought the story to me Josh, a few hours before our flight, she learned it the day before.”

Josh tensed up as he fought the urge to scold his companion and failed. He forced himself to look ahead and keep walking as he snapped, “what in the hell were you thinking letting that go before running it by someone on our side? You guys have an agenda, we get it, Hoynes wants his recognition but damn it you know this isn't the way!”

Josh felt a thrill of annoyance as he realised something else with Gavin's words, that Cadence didn't hold responsibility, at least not entirely. He halted in the corridor and turned so fast Gavin nearly walked into him.

Momentarily stunned, Gavin lost some of his composure as he frowned and took a step back.

“Gavin, why did Hoynes tell Leo and the President it came from Cadence and not you?” Josh demanded.

Gavin's smile returned but it was thin and bitter and his grey gaze hardened slightly. “She advised me she attempted to follow protocol and tell all of you first. She said she tried to contact you through your assistant, e-mail Toby, ring Sam and even visit in person but you all rebuffed or ignored her. She brought it to me then and I made the call.”

Josh filled with surprise at this revelation and frowned. He wondered at the tale as he rubbed a hand through his hair. Had Cadence tried to tell them? Perhaps it had been a token gesture to cover herself but then, he realised, that didn't really make sense given she hadn't tried to use it as a defence with Leo.

“You kept your name off it because you knew there'd be a fall out,” Josh realised.

Gavin shook his head. “No, I considered she was lying about trying to reach you because she wanted to get points with the Vice President,” he admitted. “The news was too good to pass and her evidence was solid but I also knew Cal wouldn't be happy with me for handing something Cadence came up with to the Vice President, so that was why I told the Vice President she deserved the credit.”

Josh sighed as he looked up at Gavin in exasperation. He had gotten along with him well enough on Hoynes' campaign, Gavin could be outgoing, funny and friendly but he was also self-preserving, cunning and a little too into his work.

“Man, why is it the politics never ends with us?” Josh lamented.

“Because we're involved with politicians,” Gavin retorted with another grin, this time one with more mirth. “Josh you and I both know that senator wasn't giving in today, he was in it for the profit and this was the only way to get a win over him. We also both know it was better coming from the Vice President than the President. Everything else is semantics.”

Josh was silent for a moment as he thought over it. He felt the anger budding within him despite his urge to quash it. He didn't like Cadence McGarry, well he didn't really know her these days but still, she hadn't been all that great before but then neither had he. He frowned knowing what he had to do now.

“No Gavin, no it's not,” he argued with a wave of his hand in a dismissive gesture. “You took a gamble and let Cadence pay for it, damn it you should have said something to us.”

“The news was fresh Josh and you guys had every opportunity to hear about it, you didn't want to know.” Gavin raised his eyebrows slightly and gave Josh a calm stare. “Unless she was lying to me about trying so hard to tell you guys, was she Josh?”

“Gavin I'll find out,” Josh muttered, “but seriously, she's on your team, give her a break.”

Josh paced past Gavin, retreating back the way he had come, knowing he had to find Toby, Sam and C.J. He had left Toby and Sam down in the study of the hotel working on speeches on their laptops whilst C.J was in a designated press room giving the press a brief of the day's events. Of course it really was a brief as she was simply telling them of a pleasant day at the ranch.

It didn't take long for Josh to find Sam and Toby as he had left them. He rushed into them, agitated and jumpy as he considered what needed to be done.

“What's wrong Josh?” Sam quipped as he glanced up from his laptop with concern.

Truthfully, Sam was glad for the distraction as he still wasn't sure what kind of speech he should be writing in lieu of the day's turn of events.

The study was dark, Toby had permitted two lamps to be turned on but otherwise insisted the dim lighting helped him. Sam was certain Toby just wanted a dark room to match his dark mood.

“Guys, um...look, Toby did Cadence e-mail you at all?” Josh glanced from one to the other awkwardly as he raised his hand slightly.

“When?” Toby sneered. “Five minutes before her  coup d'état?”

“Well no, a little sooner,” Josh said.

Sam stared up at Josh in confusion, the light of his computer screen reflecting off his glasses. “Josh what's happened now?” he queried quietly.

Josh swallowed hard as he stepped forward to the lone phone in the study. He picked it up and dialled to switchboard. He got passed through to a secure line in the White House and then waited impatiently as the line rang out in Donna Moss' office.

“Hello, Deputy Chief of Staff's office,” Donna greeted chirpily.

Josh was surprised at how his mood lifted slightly at the voice. He wondered in astonishment if he was really missing her docile tones so soon.

“Hello?” she quipped.

“Donna it's me,” Josh retorted. He winced slightly and rubbed his hand across his brow.

“Josh what's up? Did you get me a cowboy hat?”

“Well yes actually,” he retorted, thinking of the gift abandoned in his room, “but that's not why I'm calling. Donna, did Cadence McGarry try to get me before we left for Texas?”

“Well yes Josh, the day before your flight,” Donna answered with a hint of annoyance in her voice, “but I did tell you she dropped by.”

“Donna what did she say?”

“That it was important she see you, look I told you at the time Josh but you just said she was probably yanking your chain and that I wasn't to bother finding a free slot for her, and you'd already blown her off that morning. She asked about Sam as well actually, said she'd called him and left a message, Ginger wrote a note for him but she told me he crumpled it up and threw it in the bin. Cady came by three times that day but she got fed up waiting and ended up having lunch with Leo.”

“Damn it!” Josh cursed.

“Josh?” Donna was surprised.

“Donna are you sure you mentioned this? I mean I remember you babbled about her having lunch.”

“I don't babble Josh,” Donna retorted angrily. “Anyway, you blew her off yourself that morning, you starting going 'la, la, la, I can't hear betrayal' and walked off!”

Josh winced at the reminder, he had done that, it was three days after Cadence's employment had been announced and the day before their flight and he had been in no mood to entertain her. “Alright Donna, thanks.”

Josh hung up the phone and looked at Toby imploringly.

Toby and Sam were both staring at Josh in confusion.

“Toby, did you get an e-mail from Cadence or not?” Josh demanded.

Toby nodded. “Yes but I haven't had time to read it, she should go through Ginger and Bonnie for this stuff.”

“She tried,” Josh said bitterly.

Toby continued to look confused as he brought up his e-mails and clicked on it. “I've something important to run by you re: Senator Whyte, please call or e-mail me urgently,” Toby read the e-mail aloud. He frowned as he took in the date stamp. “This was the day before our flight.”

“Yeah,” Josh murmured as he collapsed into a free couch. He rubbed both his hands down his face as he sagged in it. “Gavin told me, Cadence got the news the day before our flight, she must have went digging the moment she heard about this senator,” he explained. “As soon as she got this story and proof of it she tried to tell us,  all of us.”

“And we ignored her,” Sam said softly. He had closed his laptop and was looking slightly distraught as he stared over at Toby and Josh.

Josh nodded sombrely. “We did,” he remarked bluntly. “I was checking with Donna there,” he added with a wave to the phone, “she confirmed Cadence called by three times that day and spoke to her, Ginger and Bonnie. She tried to speak to me but I thought she was just round to yank my chain and I ignored her,” he confessed.

“She left a message for me,” Sam admitted weakly.

Josh sighed as he leaned back in the chair and looked up to the ceiling. “I have to tell Leo,” he realised. “The way he yelled at her, that wasn't fair.”

“Wait, you said Gavin knew,” Toby remarked as he leaned forward slightly, “then why did Hoynes say it came from Cadence?”

Josh glanced over at Toby wearily. “Cal doesn't like Cadence,” he explained, “and Gavin knew he would quash the news because it came from her but Gavin knew it was too good to be discarded, so he went to Hoynes directly and let Cadence take the credit so Cal wouldn't berate him for it. He also figured if Cadence had lied to him about telling us then she'd take the fall.”

“Why the hell did she take the fall?” Sam demanded crossly as agitation filled his gaze. “She stood there with us and Leo and never even blinked, she never even looked at us. Guys I feel terrible about this and it was good intel, it's all checked out and I know no one wants to hear it but it  was better coming from Hoynes.”

Josh sighed. “Leo isn't going to be happy.”

“I'll tell him,” Toby volunteered.

Josh shot up in his seat and looked at Toby in disagreement. “No Toby I'll do it, I'm mainly responsible.”

“No Josh,” Toby said sternly, “we're all responsible but you have a grudge against her and Leo is liable to be angriest with you.”

Josh winced at that thought. “Well that... that's true,” he admitted quietly as he flopped back in the seat again. “Alright, you tell Leo and hopefully he'll tell the President, he was pretty steamed with her too. She did everything right, much as I hate it, she did.”

“I'm going to have a few stern words with Gavin about this,” Sam commented as his blue eyes flickered with anger. “Honestly I'm as mad with him as I am with us, he's on her side.”

“Yeah Sam I told him, I don't think he cares,” Josh grumbled.

“Well he will when I'm done with him,” Sam insisted.

Toby closed off his laptop and stood up from his chair. “I'll find Leo now,” he said, “before dinner.”

\---

Toby found Leo with the President in Leo's suite, both of them still evidently angry with the day's events. Toby didn't know if it was better that he could tell them together and potentially save himself from having to repeat the conversation or if it was worse because he was going to have to deal with both of them turning their wrath upon him at once.

They were both silent and staring at Toby with an odd sense of relief, glad to have a distraction from their shared anger.

Toby looked back at them with as much calm as he could manage but his unease was showing in his brown stare and a frown was already pulling down his face through his dark beard.

“What is it Toby?” Leo asked impatiently. He glanced at his watch and frowned. “We really need to be getting ready for dinner.”

Toby nodded. “I know Leo but I have some news,” he admitted quietly. “It's Cadence,” he added hastily. He stiffened slightly seeing how both Leo and the President's gazes filled with fresh ire at the mention of her name. “Leo, Mr. President, please, she didn't ignore protocol,” he confessed.

Jed raised his eyebrows at this as he looked at Toby questioningly. “Oh? What do you mean Toby?” he queried.

Toby suppressed a sigh. “Sir, she got the news late, the day before our flight and she tried to tell us on the day.” Toby hadn't intended on disclosing just how much effort Cadence had put into trying to contact them but he realised that to fully absolve her he had to tell the truth in its entirety.

“She called by the West Wing three times, she phoned Sam and left a message, she spoke with Donna, Ginger and Bonnie, and she e-mailed myself.”

“Toby what are you saying?” Leo quipped in disbelief. He took a step forward and looked to Toby in surprise before glancing to the President with unease.

Toby's brown stare was on the President, he could see the disappointment budding there and knew that Jed had guessed the truth already.

“Sir, we rebuffed her,” Toby confessed bluntly, “and ignored the messages she left. I feel bad about it now, we all do but we were rushing around trying to get things sorted for the flight and-”

Jed held up a hand to silence the man. “No Toby,” he said quietly, “you weren't. You were all ignoring her because you didn't think she had anything of worth to tell you.”

Toby let the sigh out this time but found himself nodding. “Yes sir, we were.” His gaze flickered over to Leo again. “I am sorry. When she couldn't get us,” he continued, “she passed the story to Gavin, he made the call to give it to Hoynes but he gave Cadence the credit because he thought Cal would come down hard on him if he learned Gavin had taken something from Cadence and passed it to Hoynes.”

Jed shook his head. “Wrong again Toby, Gavin did that so Cadence would take the blame if it didn't go well, which it didn't.”

“Damn it why didn't she say anything?” Leo snapped angrily.

Toby watched on with a brittle calm as Leo paced about the room with a glower and a shake of his head.

“Because she didn't want to be the one who told tales, not when everyone has been getting along so well with her,” Jed remarked sardonically. “Well this has turned into a fine mess.”

“I need to add sir,” Toby commented quietly, “that what Sam said earlier about it being better coming from Hoynes, I do agree with that.”

“So that makes it okay?” Jed queried in a raised voice with a flare of anger to it. “Toby, you all screwed up, all of you, I should have made the call to pass it to Hoynes.”

“But would you have sir?” Toby challenged him.

Jed frowned as he gestured his hands outwards. “Well we'll never know now, will we?” he retorted sarcastically. “That isn't the point Toby, Cadence was afraid of messing things up and now she thinks she did when it turns out it was everyone but her. You owe your apology to her, you know that right?”

Toby nodded.

“So do I,” Leo admitted woefully. He glanced over at Jed. “Sir I need to go see her,” he said pleadingly.

Jed nodded. “We both need to see her Leo.”

“You didn't speak to her sir but the way I berated her...” Leo frowned again as he trailed off.

Toby gazed at the President imploringly. “One more thing sir.”

“What is it Toby?” Jed demanded wearily.

“Can you speak to Hoynes about this? I'm sure he's picked up on the...confusion,” he concluded awkwardly.

“The confusion,” Jed repeated mockingly, refusing to let the weak term slide. He sighed. “You know, I find the man difficult to talk to as it is and now I can't seem to escape him.” He nodded briskly. “Alright, alright, this gets sorted before dinner. Leo, get John here, then you go talk to Cadence. Toby, you and Sam better start working on one hell of an apology.”

Toby nodded. “Right sir.”

“Get to it then,” Jed dismissed him.

Leo was already at the phone contacting Hoynes' suite.

\----

“Tomorrow will be a better day, tomorrow will be a better day.” Cadence repeated the phrase over and over to herself like a mantra. She was seated cross legged on her bed in her underwear knowing she should be getting changed. Her clothes for the evening lay waiting beside her.

The thought of getting dressed was exhausting especially since she knew after the dinner she had to come back up to her suite to change again for the ball. She was dreading all of it, she was a pariah to both parties- scolded by her own father in front of the President's closest staff and shunned by members of the Vice President's staff because half viewed her as the traitor who'd left them in the lurch during the election campaign and the other half viewed her as a traitor also but not one they knew personally, and considered her post nepotism via her father's influence.

“Tomorrow will be a better day,” she murmured it again as she kept her eyes closed. Her hands were trembling slightly as they rested on her bare legs. She wanted to put her tape player on and get lost in her music but at the moment she was still struggling with her self-control. There was an urge to cry, an urge to curse and get mad, and a fainter but familiar urge, a whisper in the edges of her mind to do other things to escape the grief she was feeling.

There was a knock at her door.

Her grey-blue eyes snapped open and she looked to it accusingly.

The knock came again.

“Cadence it's Josh, can we talk?”

She frowned as she wondered if he had come to lecture her further or jest.

“Cadence please.”

She sighed and rose from the bed, snatching up the complimentary white, fluffy bathrobe and securing it about herself.

He knocked again.

“I'm coming Josh, I'm just not running,” she snapped as she walked to the door.

She reached the door and tugged it open, greeting him with a cool stare of hostility.

Josh looked back at her in surprise. “Um, you're not dressed,” he murmured.

She had her hair down in loose, styled waves, and her make up had been applied taking away the worst of the bags under her eyes and the sallowness of her skin. Josh very firmly kept his stare on his face though he was acutely aware that her legs were exposed and the V cut of the nightgown had a certain temptation to it.

“In the process of getting that way,” she retorted dryly. She folded her arms and leaned against the doorway as she waited for him to explain his presence.

“Cadence I talked to Gavin,” Josh confessed. “He told me that you tried to get in touch with us, about this story you had on Senator Whyte, and he said he's the one who gave approval for it to be passed to Hoynes when you couldn't reach us.”

“What's your point?” she queried icily.

Josh winced slightly, though he knew he deserved the coldness in her voice. “Why didn't you tell Leo?” he blurted out. He realised as he had hurried over to talk to Cadence before dinner that it was the most pressing thought he had about the matter.

“I'm already having issues with my connections to Mr. McGarry,” she replied stiffly, “without everyone thinking I need to run and tell on people to daddy to save myself.”

Josh frowned. “Cadence.” He paused, unsure what to say and aware that he taken on an angry demeanour, which wasn't going to help him. He relaxed his stance slightly. “I'm sorry, we all are,” he said, “and Toby has gone to explain things to Leo. We all ignored you, we shouldn't have. It was the day before the flight, you're green to the post and it was hard to consider that you might have something as big as that and so soon.”

Cadence cocked her head slightly at this as she continued to give Josh a cold stare. “Why? You worked with me Josh, I was always detailed and attentive, I worked long and hard and I always checked my sources. I was on this as soon as the President mentioned Senator Whyte to me.”

“Before you even got your job,” Josh murmured dryly.

Cadence stood away from the doorway. “You see!” she snapped as she slackened her arms. “This is my point! You think I was on it because I thought the job was guaranteed but that's not it! I would have tried to get you that information whether I was employed on the Vice President's team or not because it was what was needed to get one over on that senator. If John,” she shook her head angrily, “the Vice President had to use that information then you needed it!”

Josh's frown deepened at Cadence using the VP's name but he didn't comment on it. “I am sorry Cadence and I mean that. What can I do to make it right?”

She shook her head again and turned away from him. “Nothing Josh,” she murmured wearily. “It doesn't matter.” She reached a hand up to the door to close it.

“Wait Cadence,” Josh protested quickly. “Please, what will it take? I'll do anything, you did everything right and I admit it and I'm sorry. Come on, this trip was your idea, you should be enjoying it. I don't want dinner or this ball ruined for you, what will it take?”

Cadence's gaze darted up to Josh's and she looked thoughtful for a moment. “Wear the hat,” she stated flatly.

Josh looked puzzled. “Come again?”

“I heard the senator gave you a cowboy hat,” she retorted.

“How does word spread that fast?” Josh marvelled.

“Wear it.”

“No,” he protested, “he'll think I'm mocking him!”

“Or he'll think you're embracing his gift,” Cadence countered. “Look, wear it or don't.” She shrugged. “I need to get changed.”

Josh frowned as she closed the door in his face. “Well that's mature,” he grumbled.

“Josh what are you doing here?”

Josh jumped and whirled to face his boss with the wide eyed expression of the child whose hand has been caught in the cookie jar.

Leo was standing dressed in an appealing black and white dinner suit.

“Ll...Leo,” he stammered. “I...I was...” He winced at the anger growing in his boss' face. “I was apologising,” he confessed, “or attempting to anyway.”

Josh rubbed his hands through his hair again. “Toby talked to you, right?”

Leo nodded. “Yes Josh and I'm disappointed in all of you, and myself,” he added quietly.

Leo frowned at Josh looked back at him awkwardly. “Josh, dinner is in fifteen minutes and you're not dressed for it,” he pointed out.

Josh glanced down at his attire. “Right, see you at dinner Leo.”

Josh took his cue to hurry off.

Leo stepped up to Cadence's door and knocked it gently with his knuckles.

“Damn it Josh piss off!” Cadence cried out loudly.

“Cadence it's me,” Leo called back.

There was the sound of panicked footsteps before the door was hastily opened again.

“These should be revolving,” Cadence grumbled. Her head was bowed and her gaze focused on Leo's shiny, black shoes.

“Cady I heard what happened,” Leo admitted, “and I've come to apologise.”

Cadence glanced up at him with a heated stare. “That seems to be the theme around here,” she grumbled, “yell first, apologise later.”

Leo winced at the anger burning in her eyes for him, just like her mother she knew how to focus her fire into her stare for maximum effect. “Cady can I come in a moment?”

Cadence gestured down at herself in frustration. “Well I'm trying to get ready but why not, may as well add being late to dinner to my list of offences today.” She turned away and paced back into the room.

Leo followed after her and closed the door. “Cady I shouldn't have yelled at you.”

Cadence stepped over to the bed where her outfit for dinner was resting. “It's fine Mr. McGarry, you were just doing your job,” she retorted aloofly.

“Cadence I'm sorry about that, forget that Mr. McGarry crap, I'm always dad to you,” Leo retorted. He walked over to her and glanced down at her chosen clothes. He knew she had had to go on a hasty shopping trip with Mallory before all this, Mallory had mentioned at least one credit card being turned down but how Cadence was determined that she didn't let anyone down with a shabby appearance.

“Cady I know how hard you're trying, I do,” he said gently, “and so does Jed. You did everything right, you put all your efforts into looking into Senator Whyte and you got us something we needed. The delivery of it might have been questionable but that's not your fault,” he added hastily. “This trip was your idea and it was a good one. I'm proud of you, I am.”

Cadence glanced up and gave her father a look full of woe. “So proud you doubted me at the first opportunity,” she accused.

Leo frowned back at her as guilt filled his gaze. “You're right,” he agreed with a nod, “I did doubt you. I believed you screwed up, maybe not intentionally but I believed it because you're new at this and it was hard to consider my own team were at fault. I've said sorry but I know it's not enough,” he confessed as he gestured to her with open arms. “I'm not perfect Cady, you know that and even if you had screwed up... well I'm an alcoholic and a pill user so I can't throw stones.”

Cadence shook her head, angry at herself as she felt tears pricking at her eyes. “Tomorrow will be a better day,” she repeated softly as she pushed back a strand of hair.

Leo stepped forward and embraced her in a hug. “No baby girl, today will a better day,” he murmured.

Cadence smiled weakly as she welcomed the hug but didn't return it.

Leo ended it and gave her a warm smile. “You get dressed for dinner now, it's going to be a good night,” he assured.


	8. Dining, Dancing and Drama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I amended this chapter- I didn’t like the elevator scene, it just didn’t fit with this fic so I removed it.

The Driskill Hotel Grill was hiving with activity. Waiters and waitresses gossiped between servings in the bowels of the kitchen over their opinions of the presidential party. The talk was typical of awed folks- some murmured destain for the liberal President, some remarked they'd thought he was taller, a few waitresses giggled remarks about the Vice President being easy on the eyes, whilst more than a few blushed and made comments about Sam Seaborn's appealing nervous sensibilities presented in an attractive, youthful package. There was support for their local senator, who had toned down the rancher appearance for the evening and looked distinguished enough, tough and, as some commented, taller than expected.

The atmosphere in the eating area was, upon initial viewing, warm and pleasant with candles at the tables, the spot lights above adding a glow to a room designed to be dark, and there was a lull of music softly underlining the chatter of the guests, classical because someone said the President liked it, nothing original however because that same someone hadn't realised how particular the President was with his tastes.

Upon closer inspection, just as snow hides dirt, the lights and music were discovered to conceal a tense attitude, at one table frosty, at another heated. People were on edge and although it was deliberately not discussed, word of the meeting between the President, the Vice President and the senator had spread and varied with each renewed telling of it.

The tall tale had done Cadence few favours. Despite damage control, the fire had already spread and the truth of the matter, which for most was much more boring, hadn't quite caught up yet.

She was surprised when Gavin had insisted she join his table and sat beside him but figured quickly that he had been admonished on some level by someone for the earlier events. It made Cadence irritated, the man was sitting with her out of guilt not desire, and she had no more patience to attempt anything beyond novelty niceties with him this evening.

Their starters were done and main course was due. Cadence was resisting Gavin and Tanya's talk of strategies for when they returned to Washington. She had occupied herself with her crimson napkin, one of linen and held together with a gold star clasp until she had unfolded it.

“Cadence.”

Cadence glanced up at the voice and kept her stare carefully cool as she took in Sam Seaborn.

Sam was wearing a black tie dinner suit similar to Josh and Toby's but whilst Toby's looked worn and Josh's looked borrowed, Sam's was, like the rest of him, polished, unblemished and attractive.

Cadence could see the appeal with Sam, he had an allure to him that was safe, he worked out but he didn't overdo it, he had a geeky charm and wore shirts with the same comfortable ease that Cadence donned hooded, fluffy nightgowns. Cadence didn't feel an attraction to him but she understood why her sister was drawn to him.

“Mr. Seaborn,” Cadence addressed him calmly.

“Sam,” he corrected instinctively. “I came to apologise, I know I should have waited until after dinner,” he said quickly, “but I couldn't so I'm here now.”

Sam fell silent. He was trying hard to ignore the weight of Gavin and Tanya's stares upon him and was all too conscious of the silence that now occupied their table. He stared instead at Cadence's napkin project. It looked similar to origami.

“Sam.”

“Yes?” he quipped hastily.

“You haven't apologised,” Cadenced pointed out.

“Right,” he retorted with embarrassment as he flustered slightly. “I'm sorry,” he almost exclaimed it. “I acted poorly and that was unfair to you.”

Sam realised he was still staring at the folded up napkin and he looked up to Cadence. “Um is that a bird?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you learn to do origami?”

Cadence's shoulders stiffened before she stretched them back against her chair and continued to finish twisting the beak of her napkin bird into place. “Where one learns to do origami,” she retorted vaguely.

“Japan?” Sam guessed.

Cadence frowned as she placed the gold star on the bird's back to keep its folded wings into place. “No Sam.”

“Right, well...am I forgiven?”

“No Sam.”

Sam's piercing blue eyes filled with surprise and his mouth parted slightly.

Gavin smiled at Cadence's blunt answer. It was Sam who had scolded him for his treatment for her and he couldn't help but enjoy seeing Cadence freeze Sam out even if part of Gavin felt that Sam had a point. Seeing Cal frowning in their direction had Gavin reaching for his glass of beer and taking a deep gulp. His boss had been pissed to learn that Gavin had helped get the story about Senator Whyte having shares in a gun company to Hoynes. It didn't matter that Hoynes was all but over the moon with the success of it, Cal didn't think that reward was worth the price of Cadence scoring points with Hoynes so soon.

“Well what can I do to make amends?” Sam queried as he gestured outwards with both hands.

Cadence shrugged. “What does that matter? Josh asked the same thing so I told him to wear that cowboy hat he acquired but I see that was too much for him. Why offer then if you won't do it.”

Sam glanced behind him over his right shoulder to the table he had come from. Toby and C.J were staring over in an obvious fashion whilst Josh was deliberately looking away.

“Well that's Josh,” Sam murmured as he turned back to Cadence. “Although it's understandable him not wanting to embarrass himself so publicly, the press are here after all.”

“The senator gave him a gift, he's embarrassing the senator by not wearing it,” Cadence retaliated. “Anyway Sam, I see food being served so if you'll please leave me to enjoy it.”

Sam glanced around again and saw that Cadence was correct, the waiters and waitresses were beginning to serve out the main courses and top up drinks.

“What do I have to do?” he queried.

Cadence glanced up at him. “Sam,” she addressed him quietly, “you made a mistake and so did I. Let's just move on, you don't need my forgiveness, we're on different teams, we don't have to work together.”

“No see, this war thing, that's you and Josh, not me,” Sam argued. “We are all on the Democrats' team, that's one side,” he insisted as he clasped his hands together and gestured his hands down.

Gavin snorted at this. “Come on Sam, you don't believe that,” he sneered.

Sam frowned at him. “Well I believe it should be that way. Isn't it tough enough with the Republicans against us and on a much greater scheme, the terrorists of the world, the criminals, the warmongers, we don't have time to be fighting in-house.”

Gavin laughed. “Alright Sam, don't get so serious about some friendly bickering in politics, it's not like we're at each other with swords.”

Sam's frown deepened but his stare was back on Cadence. “It feels like we are sometimes. Cadence, we can be friends,” he insisted, “and I'll prove that.”

“Because you want to date my sister?” she quipped aloofly.

“No, although that would be a perk,” he admitted. “I'll leave you to your dinner,” he decided. “I am sorry though, and that's the last of my apology.”

Cadence nodded. “Alright Sam, well thanks for having the guts to say it.”

He nodded before walking back to his table.

When Sam reached the table, where his meal was sitting ready, he was set upon by the inquisition of Josh, Toby and C.J.

“Well, did she graciously forgive you then, did you earn the honour?” Josh sneered.

“No,” Sam retorted as he sat down and glowered at Josh, “something about you offering to do something for forgiveness then refusing to do it.”

“She asked me to wear that stupid hat!” Josh exclaimed.

“Oh a little louder there Josh I don't think the senator quite caught that,” Toby scorned as he picked at his potatoes.

“Well you should've,” Sam snapped, “or you shouldn't have offered to do something without setting some terms first, you opened yourself up for that. Now she thinks she can't trust us.”

“Well she can't,” C.J pointed out, “you all ignored her, then forgot you ignored her and stood there while Leo yelled at her.” C.J gestured to herself with one hand. “I'm the only one who didn't turn her away, she didn't even reach out to me.”

“Well no, why would she?” Toby queried patronisingly. “She didn't want the story run to the press.”

C.J frowned over at him. “Because Toby I could have got through to you ignorant jackasses and got your attention for her.”

“Well she maybe didn't consider that,” Sam lamented. He was staring back over at Cadence's table.

Cadence was frowning down at her steak with displeasure and Sam wondered guiltily if he had spoiled her appetite. He supposed maybe they all had, he hadn't noticed how much of her starter she had taken.

“Guys Leo really chewed her out,” C.J continued.

“We know C.J, we were there,” Toby reminded her dryly, “and could you keep your voice down about it, the press aren't too far.”

“They're not in the same room, they got their photos before the meal and they'll not be back until it's time for some shots of coffee and conversation,” C.J murmured with a hint of mockery to her voice. Although her main job revolved around sending a good imagery to the press she disliked staged photos anyway, they always looked exactly as they were- staged.

“Well alright, how about you keep your voice down because the senator doesn't need to learn about how divided we were over this news about his stocks,” Toby murmured.

C.J turned her frosty gaze in the direction of said senator. He had cleaned up for dinner and the dancing that would follow and had brought along his wife to give off that homely, appealing charm but it was like a wolf in sheep's clothing. The man still sickened her, his smile was a sneer and when he had greeted her before the meal he had made some comment about her 'cleaning up well' and 'being tall enough to offer a good view in a mini skirt'. C.J was grateful that she had donned a long, grey skirt for the dinner and that her dress for this evening was floor length.

She figured he wasn't going for pretence anymore, not now that any deals with him were off the table because they had him over a barrel and at their mercy. He wasn't going to be gracious but bitter. Senator Whyte smiled for the cameras because he didn't want to push them into publicising his stock holdings but he knew they wouldn't unless he really shoved because then it would appear like the President was ready to smear anyone who was against him. 

C.J knew how it would go. The senator would push buttons tonight, nothing too open lest the press catch wind of it or his wife see. He would chose the politician's method of cleverly worded insults so the sting of the insult came too late for retaliation. He would murmur lewd remarks to the women when he passed them by in the corridor, just a quick comment that would invoke a shudder but nothing that could be proven. He would continue to call the President too liberal even as he dropped the issue of gun control and be openly glad that the President was leaving Texas tomorrow.

C.J's gaze shifted to the senator's left where the Vice President sat. John Hoynes sickened her almost as much sometimes, he knew how to dress up his words as well and she could never quite work who the hell's side he was really on. John had an agenda alright, he was out for John and she supposed sometimes that that was okay and understandable but there were times when he really needed to be out for the President even if it meant some sacrifices and John just never seemed that willing to make the sacrifice without a squabble because it was too much a blow to his personal reputation. She wondered why he had taken the role of Vice President when he never seemed entirely willing to don it.

“C.J?” Toby's voice drew her back to attention and to her cooling meal.

“Yes Toby?” she queried as she resumed cutting up her fish.

“I asked you how your food was.”

“Fine Toby,” she murmured, “at least it looks fine, I haven't tried it yet.”

“You know maybe you could talk to Cadence,” Toby suggested lightly.

C.J sat down her cutlery angrily with enough force for there to be a loud clatter. “Oh no Toby,” she snapped, “don't think because I'm a woman and the only one who didn't make her mad that I'll fix the mess for all of you.”

“Well C.J that's the point,” Josh interrupted, “she is mad at us and while she stays mad, Leo stays mad.”

Josh gestured with one hand to their morose looking boss who was sandwiched between the President and one of the senator's party.

“Do you want Leo's night ruined C.J? Do you?” Josh queried with pleading look.

“I don't want my night ruined,” the press secretary retorted sincerely.

“Well it won't be if you talk nice to Cadence,” Josh insisted.

C.J glowered over at Josh. “Why would my night be ruined if I don't?” she demanded crossly.

Josh smiled at her. “Because we're all upset about this too and you know a bad mood is contagious.”

“Josh.” C.J shook her head before seizing up her cutlery again. She finally took a bite of her fish. “Damn it's cold!” she complained.

Her voice carried a little too loudly as it was enough to bring a concerned waiter straight over.

“Ma'am is everything alright?” he queried nervously.

“No it's not alright,” C.J retorted woefully as she set her cutlery down again and raised a hand to her brow. She glanced up at the waiter tiredly and gestured out to her party with her free hand. “I'm at a table with these savages and they've talked to me so much my food's gone cold.”

“Ma'am would you like another dish?”

C.J sighed. “No, no it's fine, just...” She grasped her two thirds empty wine glass and held it out to him. “Bring me some more wine please.”

He nodded and accepted the glass.

“C.J you didn't need to hand him the glass,” Sam pointed out, “they generally bring the bottle over and pour.”

“Sam seriously, I haven't eaten any food yet but I notice you three have almost finished,” she pointed out. “Shut up and let me eat.”

“You know Cadence hasn't eaten much either,” Sam pointed out with a small, helpful smile, “maybe that could be a starting point in the conversation.”

C.J slammed a hand down hard on the table. “Sam!” she shouted angrily.

It was loud enough to draw several looks to them.

“She's fine,” Josh assured everyone with a smile, “just telling us how much she loves the fish!”

\---

The ball in honour of the Driskill's prestigious guests began promptly at nine o'clock. For the men it was an easy enough feat to be ready for nine as only a few of them felt the need to swap a shirt or tie after dinner whilst most kept on their dining attire for the event. For the women it had been a little more difficult to depart for dinner and change and restyle and be ready for nine and a few of them had shuffled in late, awkward as they arrived in the middle of the president's speech.

Jed was all smiles, putting on a show of good form as he thanked the senator for his hospitality earlier, praised the hotel and Texas as a whole and his hopes for a positive relationship with the state in the future. He gave a mention to his VP, thanking him for his presence and his help from being both a Texan native and a skilled politician.

John was grateful for the nod but unimpressed that he wasn't asked if he had anything to add to the President's words. The speech ended with the expected applause and the music, provided by a live orchestra, began promptly.

The ballroom was a glittering delight, the tables were sheeted in robes of white and carried heavy chandeliers that twinkled from table to table, catching one another's light as well as the glow from the ceiling lights. The room was extravagant and much brighter than the dining room with cream walls and columns, and a light wooden floor. Every surface gleamed and sparkled, the finest crystal glasses adorned the tables, catching the iridescent glow of the standing chandeliers, and the aroma of expensive champagne added a dizzying glamour to the perfumed air.

Josh gave a low whistle as C.J passed him by. She was styled in Armani in a powder blue ballgown styled dress that had a modest cut at the collar which led into the small straps over the shoulder. There was silver detailing on the corset depicting leaves and flowers which matched her silver shoes and clutch, and she also had a powder blue wrap about her arms.

“Can it Josh,” she scorned her companion. “Danny has already sung my praises and Senator Whyte,” she added more quietly, “has complained because my skirt isn't higher.”

“Did the senator really say that?” Josh queried with a look of concern.

C.J shrugged. “Don't worry Josh, he's just sore.”

“Well you look lovely,” he insisted with a smile, “radiant even.”

C.J sighed. “Josh, it's a party, let me enjoy it, please. Even if you compare me to Cleopatra or Helen of Troy I'm not making up with Cadence for you. Sam's right, wear the stupid hat.”

Josh frowned. “It makes me look ridiculous.”

C.J gave him a stern stare. “No Josh, you ignoring her because of some petty fallout two years ago makes you look ridiculous.”

C.J glanced about the room and spying Leo, dismissed herself from Josh to greet the Chief of Staff.

Josh sighed before he wandered off as well, wondering if maybe wearing the cowboy hat was his only option for salvation.

At the other side of the ballroom Senator Whyte was standing with the Vice President attempting conversation.

“Come on to the bar John, the least I can do is buy you a drink,” Senator Whyte insisted. “Let's put on a show for the press boys and girls,” he said with a sneering smile as he gestured with a thumb to Danny and a female reporter standing beside him.

John smiled back politely but there was an edge to his blue gaze as he shook his head. “No, really senator, it's fine.”

“Come on John, you won the battle, don't refuse my attempt at amends,” the senator retorted.

John took in the man's stubborn brown stare as he wondered if Senator Matt Whyte was perhaps trying to prove a rumour. John couldn't imagine that Matt really knew anything about John's secret alcoholism but then again, it was a habit that had started young in John and turned disastrous very quickly and Matt was a Texan native, maybe he had heard an ugly whisper in the winds.

“Matt, really, I had enough at dinner,” John lied smoothly.

“You're being rude now Mr. Vice President,” Matt spat out the accusation in a hostile manner.

John frowned as his mask of charm and cheer slipped away.

“Senator Whyte, how very good to meet you,” Cadence intruded upon them with a bright tone to match the wide smile she arrived with. She slipped in between the men and extended a hand out to the senator. “I'm Cadence McGarry, I was impressed when I heard your arguments over the land bills last month and have been eager to meet you since.”

The senator accepted her hand as his look of confusion turned to pride and then to something else as he took in the young woman and accepted her offered hand.

Cadence was wearing a pale rose gold ballgown that was decorated tastefully in glittering gold swirls. It had a corset that ended over the hips and a skirt that split up the side to expose her thin leg on the right side, cut to just above the knee. She wore no jewellery with it but instead coupled it with a pair of unnecessary skin tone pantyhose, gold high heeled shoes, a rose gold purse with a chain gold strap and a wrap that matched the colour of her dress. The wrap she had bound about her arms several times like bandages so that it was almost constricting her limbs.

John studied her arms and glimpsed the faint pink lines poking out from the gaps in the wrap. He tried to work out if any were new and thought that some did appear darker and fresher.

“And who are you with Cadence?” the senator queried. 

“I'm a Deputy in Public Relations for the Vice President here,” she explained with a nod in John's direction. She smiled but it was forced now as she felt the senator's warm hand still clutching at hers, prolonging the handshake longer than necessary.

“Well I was trying to offer your boss here a drink to promote good public relations,” the senator exclaimed, “maybe you could tell him to stop resisting.”

Cadence laughed politely at this. “It's a long night sir with a very early start tomorrow, the Vice President has probably already met his quota. However, in the spirit of good public relations, would it be rude if I accepted on his behalf?” 

Cadence widened her smile.

The senator glanced her up and down as if eyeing up a cow for sale in the pen before he grinned and nodded. “Sure.” He looked back over to John. “Well I've been provided with an appealing alternative to yourself at least John, I'll talk to you later.”

John made himself smile but it was difficult and he found himself pushing his hands into his pockets to avoid clenching his fists openly. He knew Cadence was welcoming the attention from the senator to divert it from him and he needed the distraction she provided but he hated how the senator studied her and kept a grip on her hand. 

Cadence began to lead the senator away to the bar and John watched them go with an icy expression. He wasn't going to like it but he wouldn't protest it either. His blue stare roamed the room until he spotted Leo frowning at the senator as well and he knew he was going to have to go over before Leo forgot his role as Chief of Staff and let his fatherly urges kick in.

John thought bitterly that there was an irony to it. Him getting annoyed at an old man ogling Cadence. He knew he had never treated her like meat but had he really treated her much better? He had seduced her to his bed when he was married and had taken lovers before her. There had been lovers after too, a blonde apprentice in his party to try and console himself for Cadence's loss but it hadn't been the same.

Only with Cadence returned to his life did John realise no one had quite been the same. She had a certain spark to her, an oddness that was usually quirky and alluring although at times it could be dark and disturbing. He realised that was the problem. If she had just been an easy fuck he wouldn't care for her personal problems, they would be unwanted baggage to avoid, an excuse to discard her and definitely a reason for not rekindling anything with her but he did care. He had taken in her beauty in her ballgown but he had looked for her scars as well, searching for the new damage with a desire to run his fingers over them and somehow soothe the hurt away.

John reached Leo and pushed the thoughts of lust and longing away. It was one thing to consider the damage to his reputation if his liaisons with Cadence ever became public and quite another to think what Leo would do to him if he learned about it. She had only been twenty-one when John had bedded her. Hell John's daughter was fourteen now, he could understand the rage Leo would summon for him. Understand it yes but brace himself for it, ready for it and welcome it as a deserved punishment, no John wasn't so noble as that.

“Leo,” he murmured quietly as he reached the man, “the senator offered me a drink and Cadence took the offer.”

Leo raised his greyed eyebrows slightly at this and glanced questioningly to his daughter. “John, does she know?”

“No,” John lied. If he admitted Cadence knew that he was an alcoholic of course Leo would question it, it was a highly intimate secret, the kind to share with someone very close to you. “She sensed he was, shall we say, overspending his time with me,” John suggested lightly with a mocking smile.

Leo nodded. “I see, well I don't like him with her.”

“It's a public place Leo and the senator can't monopolise her, Mrs. Whyte isn't too far.”

Leo glanced past John and his eyes widened with a moment of surprise. He raised his palm to his forehead and groaned as he pressed it there. “What are you doing Josh?” he groaned.

John glanced over his shoulder out of curiosity and stared in astonishment at the sight of Josh Lyman, still in his dinner attire but now donning his tan cowboy hat as well.

As people mocked and laughed him, Josh just smiled and tipped his hat obligingly.

“Hey Josh,” Danny called as he spotted him, “are you doing this for a bet?”

“No Danny, this was a gift from the senator,” Josh retorted brightly, “and I'm honouring it.”

Danny smiled. “Okay, well then you won't mind a picture.”

Josh's smile became fixed as he forced out the words, “no Danny, of course not.”

Danny nodded to the press photographer lingering nearby and laughed as a photograph was snapped.

“Oh, oh,” C.J piped up brightly, “wait, get one with me!”

She hoisted up her skirts with both hands and raced to Josh's side.

Josh winced as C.J planted both her hands about him as if to secure him in place before she leaned over him and smiled.

“Say Hi Ho Silver,” C.J teased.

Danny laughed again as another photograph was taken.

Hearing the commotion prompted Cadence to glance over from her unenviable position at the bar with the senator. She was seated on a stool that was lost beneath her dress, sipping gently at the glass of champagne the senator had insisted on buying her. He had waved off the barman's reminder than there was plenty of free champagne out for them, courtesy of the hotel and grumbled that he wanted to buy the lady a drink.

Spotting Josh with his hat prompted Cadence to give a small smile.

Senator Whyte followed the jovial sounds and scowled. “If I didn't know better I'd say he was mocking me,” he growled out.

Cadence turned back to face him and smiled sweetly at him. “I'm sure he's not, didn't you give it to him?” she queried. “He's only showing it off I'm sure.”

She flinched as the senator reached out with his right hand and grasped her chin. “I'm sure you might be mocking me now too,” he accused as he forced her stare to meet his annoyed one.

Cadence pulled away from his touch and pushed herself off the bar stool. “Don't touch me again senator,” she warned him frostily, “I don't care what you rank, you don't have that right.”

Cadence abandoned the senator at the bar and headed for Josh who was standing on the edge of the dance floor. When she reached him, she gave him a coy smile. “Still seeking forgiveness?” she pried.

“No, I've just started to grow attached to this,” Josh jested as he smiled back at her.

“It suits you,” Cadence teased.

Josh laughed. “No, no it really doesn't,” he retorted. “So, can I take it off now, have I served my penance?”

“Not quite,” Cadence retorted as her gaze turned mischievous, “I'd say thirty minutes wearing at least.”

“What? Cadence come on,” Josh protested with a wild wave of his hands.

“I can go up to forty.”

“Alright, fine, thirty but then that's it,” Josh said firmly, “we're back to being acquaintances that bicker only this time I'll respond to your messages.”

Cadence nodded. “Sure Josh.”

She turned as she caught a whiff of expensive aftershave and gave Gavin a welcoming stare.

Gavin regarded her with a warm smile. “Cadence, in the spirit of making amends can I ask you to dance?” he quipped as he held out a hand.

Josh pulled a face at this. “That's a terrible line,” he sneered, “terrible.”

“And that's a terrible hat,” Gavin retorted without looking Josh's way.

“Yeah, you got one too,” Josh reminded him.

Gavin bristled at the reminder and rolled his eyes. “And hopefully the senator doesn't ask about it because you've been stupid enough to wear yours,” he grumbled.

Josh grinned. “Hmm now that might me feel better.”

“No Josh, you suffer alone,” Cadence scorned him as she accepted Gavin's hand.

“Well that's hardly fair, I didn't offend alone,” Josh complained.

Cadence just laughed as she allowed Gavin to lead her to the dance floor.

Cadence danced and sipped lightly at champagne until just after midnight. Exhausted from the changeable events of the day she then retreated for a late bath and bed. She was emotionally drained more than anything. Between going from a pariah in the morning simply for existing to her father's scolding and then the ugly rumours of her misdeeds that had followed, Cal's never ending glowers even when the truth came out, in fact he seemed to hate what had really happened more than what was rumoured to have happened, and then keeping up appearances for dinner and dancing, it was all a lot for one day.

She slipped out of the ballroom quietly, certain that if she had been public with her good nights there might have been pleas for her to stay. Gavin had been a lot warmer to her and even told Cal to get over himself and insisted he was the one at fault anyway. Tanya had also proven more pleasant and even offered her some praise for her 'ballsy move'. Cadence decided it was a good way to end the evening, on positive terms with some of John's team.


	9. Pyrrhic Victory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who's reading this, I changed the ending of the last chapter, cut it shorter because I didn't like the elevator scene at all, it just didn't fit.

A miserable morning outside framed the atmosphere for the start of a busy morning inside the Driskill Hotel. It was just after six and many of the hotel guests were rising or had already risen and were dressed and preparing for the day ahead. It was the end of the presidential party's brief stay in Texas. At eight o'clock sharp there would be a public press appearance between the President, Vice President and Senator Whyte, then breakfast and then they would depart for their flight back to Washington.

Vice President John Hoynes was awake, washed and dressed. He had awoken purposely early, aware that the finality of the day meant his last chance for something else for a while- a moment alone with Cadence McGarry. Here in the hotel he was away from prying eyes despite ironically having the press pool staying in rooms not too far from him. He had two hours before his live meeting with the President and senator was due to begin, so that meant approximately an hour, maybe an hour and a half, before Cal was bugging him to go over things. John couldn't imagine what things, the senator would be voicing his change of opinion on gun control unless he wanted to risk his shares in the industry going public and the President would be keeping it brief because he was still mad that John had been the one to threaten the senator.

John moved through the hotel corridors quietly and briskly, marching ahead of his two Secret Service agents. Heaven forbid he would be allowed to wander the corridors of a hotel alone. John appreciated the security, hell sometimes he considered it an amusing challenge trying to practice discretion with them in tow but it was suffocating as well. He knew they would be discreet but they were still human and humans could be manipulated, blackmailed and bought. Still, John knew it would have been far too telling of him to insist they didn't come.

John had advised his security detail that he was simply seeking a moment with his Public Relations Deputy Assistant to confer over his press conference this morning. It was crap, he knew it and they probably did too but it sounded good anyway.

John had reached Cadence's room. The moment he looked at her door he suddenly had a moment where he didn't feel like the Vice President anymore but instead he was just John Hoynes. He swallowed the uneasiness that overtook him with that notion. He knocked the door gently with his right hand. He knew one of his agents- Malcolm- was itching to knock the door for him, just in case. Malcolm was young, energetic, jumpy and paranoid. John might have gotten him shifted along but Malcolm was also so engrossed in his role at a protector that he was too busy watching for threats to notice scandal.

John had to deliver two more knocks before the door was opened.

Wrapped in the hotel's complimentary nightgown, Cadence glanced out with a sleepy stare. Her eyes widened at the sight of the Vice President and she instinctively drew herself upright, pushing her tangle of fair hair over her shoulders and tightening the knot at her robe.

John smiled, his confidence bolstered by the nervous surprise on her face. He could hear the sound of a bath running and his smile widened a fraction.

“Morning Cady, can I come in?” he queried softly. “I thought we could discuss the image I should present this morning.”

Cadence blinked at this, she wasn't fooled. Wary of his intentions but curious, she nodded and stepped back from the doorway to grant him entry.

John closed the door behind him as he stepped into the room.

He stared across at the young woman staring up at him with a calm intrigue. There was his own puzzled uneasiness again. Why was he like this with her? Part of him was full of confidence, ready to reach out and grab her as he had done in the West Wing, smug in the knowledge that she was still drawn to him, that this young, pretty woman was attracted to him. Yet there was another part of him that wondered and worried about her, questioned where she had been for two years, what she had endured, what she had put herself through and God help him that had come here in the early hours of the morning because he was concerned over her well being because she had been humiliated, admonished, teased and taunted since coming here. That set John ill at ease knowing how she made him worry, how his feelings for her were deeper than he realised, dormant for two years but apparently not extinct. He wasn't sure how to handle such a dangerous concern.

“You aren't really here for advice,” Cadence accused him. She gave a small, teasing smile. “If I told you the best way to speak to the senator this morning you'd tell me to shove it up my ass.”

John chuckled at this and nodded. “I would,” he agreed. “Although I did take your advice on him, remember? He knows we know about his gun shares so he will play meek today and comply with the administration's desires for stronger gun control.”

Cadence turned her head slightly at this, not missing how John distanced himself from the gun control issue. She knew how he felt about it and realised he hadn't mellowed over it. She nodded and glanced towards the ajar bathroom door.

“I've got to turn off the bath,” she said softly. “Why are you here Mr. Vice President?” She turned her curious stare back on him. “It isn't to see me modelling the hotel nightgown.”

John felt a prickle of heat as she uttered his title. There was something in the way she said it, maybe it wasn't even intentional, John didn't know but he found it a little arousing. The mention of her attire only added to his buzz of excitement as he stared hard at the aforementioned nightgown and thought of the naked body underneath.

He stood with his hands in his dark trouser pockets, trying to feign a sense of casualness. He didn't want her to know the conflict of emotions she caused in him.

She looked tired and John wondered if she had gotten any sleep.

“I wanted to see how you were,” he confessed. “We haven't spoken much since we came to Texas and the President made me aware of the trouble you had over some misunderstandings,” he explained delicately.

Cadence sneered slightly at this and fumbled with her hair, pushing at it even though it was already tucked behind her ears. “Yes, misunderstandings, good way to say bullshit,” she retorted bluntly, “but I expected it. I'm not just a newcomer, I'm the memorable traitor and most people think I'm only employed because of who my father is. Some good old-fashioned bullying was to be expected, add the fact that we are playing with politics and it is only natural. I'll encounter worse I'm sure and I will survive it.”

John's pale eyes widened slightly at her frankness. “Cady you weren't a traitor,” he retorted sincerely.

Cadence frowned before she headed for the bathroom wordlessly.

John listened as the taps were turned off and the water flow ceased. Cadence had always loved her baths, he had queried the practicality of showers versus the time consuming nature of baths with her but she had only laughed and said she would sooner live without something practical like a fridge than a bath.

Cadence returned to the room hastily. She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced over her shoulder at the window. The curtains were open but the blinds were drawn, the light coming through was dull and now that the bath taps had been turned off the sound of rain was audible against the glass pane.

“It's not a good morning,” she murmured.

“Are you nervous about flying?” John quipped.

She glanced back at him sharply and frowned. “In that weather, who wouldn't be?” she snapped. “It's crazy even considering we might fly in that.”  
“Might?”

Cadence shuddered.

John stepped forward quickly and his hand was out and on her shoulder before either of them even realised how close he was standing to her now. The movement had been instinctive. John gazed down at her with a serious stare as his hand moved up slowly from her shoulder to her cheek.

“Cady it will be fine,” he assured.

She closed her eyes briefly and pressed her cheek against his palm before tugging it away swiftly and shaking her head. “John why are you here?” she queried again. Her gaze was desperate now.

John smiled at her sympathetically and he knew she was trying to put up her walls. Well, he had agreed that they would just be professionals. He took a polite step back. “I really did just want to see that you were okay,” he insisted. “That's all Cady, nothing untoward.”

She gave a small smile and nodded. “Alright John, I mean Mr. Vice President.” She turned her head up to him again. “I'm okay, the bath will help with my nerves I think.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms and glanced to the window again.

“Well take your tablets before the flight anyway,” John murmured, “just give me some warning beforehand.”

Cadence's ears and cheeks turned pink with embarrassment and she let out a groan. “I don't think I'm going to live that down, do people really need a replay of it?”

“Can you get on the plane otherwise?” John pried quietly as he cocked his head and gave her a serious look.

The colour vanished from her as quickly as it appeared and she shook her head quickly. “No,” her voice was hoarse.

John glimpsed the unfocused horror in her eyes before she turned her face away from him. He was eager to ask about the plane crash she had been in but he knew it would tactless to bring that up now.

“You did well Cady,” he assured. “Your idea to come here, your intel with Whyte, it's been a strong way to start your career.”

“Thanks,” she said sincerely.

John gave her another warm smile. “Go have your bath before it gets cold. Did the hotel include a rubber duck for you?”

Cadence laughed at this and her stance slackened at last as her arms fell by her sides. She nodded. “Yeah, posh looking one with a little top hat. Did you get one? Do Vice Presidents get those sort of things?”

“I don't know, I didn't really investigate the bath,” John retorted. “Tell you what, I'll have it checked before we leave and if I did, you can have it.”

“Thanks Mr. Vice President.”

John nodded. “I'll see you soon Cady.”

“See you soon. A little PR advice before you go, just because I can, the senator is a sore loser, beware him trying to offer a pyrrich victory for you. Don't give him the chance to speak too much.”

John nodded again. “I will keep that in mind.”

He retreated from the young woman, swallowing down temptation as he put his back to her and headed for the door. His ego hoped that it was difficult for her too.

\---

At eight in the morning the President, Vice President and Senator Whyte stood in an office temporarily designated for the press addressing the public in a live feed. The room had been styled the night before the address with a small, wooden stage and podium for the three men with a towering American flag standing on either side of them. The room was brightly lit and the cream walls and light honey floor added a warmth to it. There was a faint odour of lemons in the air from the vigorous sterilising it had gone through and every surface sparkled from cleaning.

Senator Matt Whyte looked tired but had a smile fixed to his face as he prepared to give his address. This was it, the moment of cowing or challenging. He felt the Vice President's presence despite having the President between them and knew which way he was going to go.

The President had already begun the press proceedings with a jovial morning greeting and a light comment on the vibrant Texas weather, which like the day before it was proving to be miserable. The rain rattled against the windows, light for the moment but promising to get heavier. It was almost drowned out by the clicks of cameras and the low breaths of the press people who looked up to the politicians with eager eyes.

The press predators were in their element, attempting to stun their prey first with the blinding flashes of cameras before they darted in for the kill, looking for public weakness to devour upon. They sensed the tensions between all three men and were hoping for blood because peace didn't make much of a story.

Senator Whyte placed his palms on the podium and leaned forward to the microphones waiting there.

“After several lively conversations and debates with the President and Vice President I was, after a few thoughtful points were raised by Vice President Hoynes, persuaded to change my stance on gun control,” Senator Whyte announced calmly. “I think there is something to be said for better vetting who we sell to.”

The hands and microphones instantly shot up.

Senator Whyte gave a real smile at this, hopeful he had delivered a final blow with his defeat. If he could cause some strife between the President and his Vice then at least he was going down with a fight.

John gave a small smile, pleased for the credit although he knew the price the President would make him pay for it. It was a good endorsement to receive, if this senator was willing to be swayed by him publicly maybe others in Texas would consider he was worth heeding to.

Jed smiled too but there was no joy in his blue gaze as he turned towards Senator Whyte.

The senator moved to finish his attack and stretched his hand across the top of the podium and the President to reach for John's hand.

John glanced down at the hand in surprise. He could almost hear the senator saying 'checkmate' as John found himself without a move. If he didn't take the hand the press would hone in on it, demand to know why he didn't and query what he had really done to persuade the senator to the President's viewpoint but if he did take it he was acknowledging the snub to the President.

John felt all eyes upon him. He had no time to debate what he was going to do because a delay would be queried as well. He took the hand briskly and shook it hard as he let Senator Whyte feel the tightness of his grasp.

The cameras flashed. The President smiled. At the back of the room Josh facepalmed and Toby murmured 'oh boy'.

The rest of the address continued calmly and brightly but it was all fake and the press weren't buying it anymore.

\---

It was after nine in the morning when the presidential party gathered for a brisk breakfast before they readied to depart from the Driskill Hotel and Texas. Outside the sky was heavy and dark and rain drops smacked off the windows in an unrelenting pattern. Inside the room was dark as the deep red carpet and dark wooden ceiling absorbed the rays of the spotlights.

There was a breakfast buffet for the staff to pick from. Sam was standing by it with Josh when he spotted Cadence enter the room. He watched as she avoided the buffet and instead took a seat in the corner of the room. He glanced at the buffet hastily before snatching up a variation of food onto his plate and scurrying off in Cadence's direction.

Josh watched his friend go with a perplexed look before he resumed selecting his own breakfast.

Sam halted at Cadence's table with a sudden flush of nerves as he realised he didn't quite know what to say.

The young woman glanced up at him with bloodshot eyes heavy with dark bags. She sat with a napkin on her lap clutched between both hands.

“Oh my,” Sam murmured before he could help it, “Cadence you look exhausted.” He placed his tray down quickly.

“And there I was wondering if I had done a good job with my make-up,” she murmured sardonically.

“I...I should've brought you a coffee, I'll get you a coffee,” Sam offered. His head darted about in all directions as he tried to spy the coffee station or a member of staff.

“Um...are you practising to be a waiter?” she quipped in confusion.

Sam, as usual, looked immaculate, fresh faced and bright eyed. It made Cadence even more conscious of her own tired appearance and the fact that her brown suit was cheap. She decided that keeping up with these ivy league political powerhouses was in itself as much of a job as her actual job. She had known from her father's role in politics that appearance was key as much as anything else but appearance was something of a conflict for Cadence. She had no style and no money to feign any. She drifted between feeling that she never washed enough to being haunted with a fixation that her scars were never well-hidden enough and her hair was never quite the right style and feeling that she simply didn't care, that a haircut wasn't going to solve tax cut debates and a tailor made blazer sure as shit wasn't going to to convince people that the issue of drugs in Colombia needed taken more seriously. Finding a balance was going to be tough.

“Were you getting prank phone calls again? You know you look like a raccoon,” Sam blurted out before he could help it.

Cadence gave a wide smile at this as she looked up at Sam. “Really?” she queried happily.

“Yes, I mean no!” Sam snapped as he glanced down at her apologetically. He was surprised when her smile dimmed. “Wait, is that a compliment?” he queried in puzzlement.

A waiter approached the table and gave Sam a helpful smile. “Can I get anything for you sir?” he asked.

“Yes, two coffees please,” Sam said.

“Could you make one of those a cappuccino?” Cadence queried.

The waiter smiled at her and nodded. “Certainly madam.”

The waiter walked off and Cadence turned her stare back up to Sam.

“How may I help the Deputy White House Communications Director this morning?” she queried. “Please don't say it's about that handshake,” she added moodily, “that was bad PR for us as well.”

“I doubt that,” Sam sneered before he could help it as he tugged out a seat. He sat down on it and glanced at Cadence apologetically. “You didn't get breakfast,” he observed, “you really should, the plane food won't be good, even with the chefs they bring it's never good,” he remarked quickly.

Cadence frowned and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her right ear. “Well it's just as well I'm not going on the plane,” she murmured.

She placed her hand back to her lap.

“You're not?” Sam was puzzled again.

“Nope, I'm going to stay in Texas,” she retorted happily, “because that is not flying weather and if you fly in that you're totally insane.” She gestured to the windows which had been turned to blurs with the constant flow of water running down them.

Sam glanced at one nonchalantly but was unperturbed by the weather. “You know planes are designed to fly in rain,” Sam replied briskly.

“Nope, flying itself isn't natural,” Cadence murmured, “and when you consider what a plane weighs, how does it even get up there?”

Sam glanced at her in surprise. He had taken her to be an intelligent person but he couldn't see this as anything but a dumb question. “Honestly, it makes sense when you consider the technology,” he retorted dismissively, “but you don't have to because the weather isn't that bad and it really is quite safe.”

“How do pilots see in the rain and the clouds?” she queried with a frown. “I mean sometimes when it rains and I'm driving it's a struggle and I'm not trying to navigate through clouds unless it's a foggy I suppose. Do you consider driving through fog and rain and wonder how a pilot does it in the sky?” she demanded, her voice picking up tempo as the whites of her eyes begin to show.

Sam shrank back from the woman slightly and shook his head. “No I do not because really, it's fine and that's not why I sat down.”

“Why did you sit down?” she queried wearily.

“To talk and offer you food.” Sam gestured down to his tray awkwardly. “Would you like something?” He looked up at her again.

Sam more nervous now than when he had approached her and was uncertain whether his decision to speak with her had been a good one.

Cadence looked to his food and shook her head. “No, thanks.”

The waiter returned with their drinks and set them down with another smile.

Only when Sam glanced down to the drinks did he notice Cadence fidgeting with something in her lap. “Can I ask what you're doing?” he pried curiously.

She nodded. “You can.”  
Sam waited for an elaboration and then frowned as he realised she was waiting for him to actually ask the question. “What are you doing?” he queried bluntly.

Cadence smiled teasingly before lifting the napkin from her lap. She had, with help from a hair bobble, knotted and twisted it into a rabbit. Well really it was two mounds as if a body and head with a dent at the back to suggest a tail and two neatly tucked and folded pointed ears.

“That's quite good,” Sam murmured.

“I've had years of practice,” she mused. “So, Sam, what did you want to talk about?” she pried.

“Well I guess,” Sam raised his hands slightly to expose his palms to her, “and this is not an apology,” he waved his hands, “because I've done that and I'm not doing it again.”

Cadence was amused at the man's nervous animation as he shook his head and waved his hands again.

“I just wanted to be nice I suppose.”

Cadence nodded as she sat back in her chair and gave him a knowing stare. “You're annoyed I didn't accept your apology and it's been eating at you,” she guessed. “Mallory did say you were passionate, she considers it a perk, I'm thinking it's more obsessive.”

Sam's expression jumped between excitement at the mention of Mallory to annoyance at being termed obsessive.

“I'm not obsessive,” he insisted. “You are in the right to be angry with me, us,” he corrected pointedly.

“Sam I'm not angry,” she interrupted calmly. “This is politics, it happens. Please, eat your food, it's getting cold.”

Josh, Toby and C.J sat at a table together eating breakfast. C.J was occupied with enjoying hers whilst Josh and Toby watched Sam with a mystified expression.

“Aren't we good enough for him?” Josh grumbled sardonically between mouthfuls of croissant.

“Maybe he doesn't have Mallory's number yet,” Toby murmured.

“No, he does,” Josh retorted, “I remember high fiving him when he got it.”

C.J's cutlery clattered on the plate angrily at this. “You high fived him for that?” she queried.

Josh, calm despite the clatter, retorted tranquilly without looking to the woman, “you know you really shouldn't abuse cutlery when you're angry.”

“I'm genuinely in awe Josh,” she sneered sarcastically, “you both work for the President but high five each other like teenagers when someone gets a woman's number.”

“I was pleased for my friend and expressing it, what's wrong with that?” Josh demanded defensively as he finished his croissant and spewed crumbs onto his plate.

“The same thing wrong with you talking with food in your mouth,” Toby retorted in a deadpan manner as he frowned across the table at Josh. “Please cease from doing that.”

Josh smiled at Toby before looking back to Sam again and gesturing in his direction with one hand. “Why is he still over there? Is he grovelling?” He glanced from C.J to Toby. “Do you think he's grovelling?”

Toby looked appropriately awkward at this. He had apologised to Cadence just before the ball. His apology had been brief, awkward and coldly polite. He had been embarrassed to make it and she had seemed just as embarrassed to receive it.

They watched as Sam finally started eating his breakfast and realised the scene probably wasn't going to get anymore interesting.

It was interrupted just a few minutes later as Sam was finishing up.

Leo approached Sam and Cadence's table and looked at them with a small smile.

“Sam, do you mind if I talk to my daughter alone for a moment?” Leo queried quietly.

“Not at all,” Sam said hastily. “I was finished anyway.”

Sam stood up from his chair briskly and made to depart.

“Don't forget your coffee,” Cadence called to him. “You didn't let him finish his coffee dad,” she chided her father.

“Sam get another coffee, I don't think the hotel is in short supply,” Leo advised.

“Right,” Sam retorted.

Sam, spying C.J and the others, hastened in their direction.

Leo occupied the empty seat beside Sam's and eyed his discarded tray distastefully, finding the rind of bacon fat off-putting.

A waiter came over and lifted the tray up. “Can I get you anything sir?” he offered.

“No thanks,” Leo said.

The waiter nodded and headed off.

Leo looked over the table at Cadence. She had her head bowed and was fidgeting with the napkin she had lifted off Sam's tray.

“Cady I just wanted to talk to you about our flight,” Leo explained. “I imagine you're a little anxious about it.”

“Nope,” she said cheerfully to the napkin, “because I'm not going to be on it.”

Leo frowned. “Cady of course you are.”

“Nope.”

“Leo, Cady, good morning,” Jed's voice greeted them merrily as he approached their table.

He gave them a wide smile as they both glanced up at him. Cadence looked startled and immediately abandoned her napkin project in her lap. She and Leo both made to stand but he waved them down.

“At ease,” he insisted.

Jed occupied Sam's seat and faced Leo. “Well Leo, have you asked Cady if she's looking forward to our flight?” Jed queried.

“She says she's not going Mr. President,” Leo retorted as he glanced to Jed appealingly.

Jed laughed as he look over at Cadence. “Of course you are, although I can understand not wanting to be near John when his ego would probably fill the entire cabin today,” he grumbled in a lower voice.

Cadence gave a slight smile at this. “I'm sure you won't believe it sir but this morning was all the senator's doing not the Vice President's, it was no PR manoeuvre on our part.”  
Jed's smile dimmed slightly. “Be that as it may, it certainly did him no harm,” he murmured. “Anyway Cady, you know I can order you on the plane, right?”

Cadence glanced over at Jed calmly. “And if I refuse sir?” she queried.

“Then I have the right to get the Secret Service to drag you on,” he retorted brightly.

“Cady you've done very well on this trip,” he praised her, “for yourself as well as John, he's lucky to have you, in fact I think you're too good for him,” he added teasingly. “I know you have had a lot of ups and downs with my people as well as Hoynes' but you've gotten through it.”

“It's the nature of the game sir,” Cadence dismissed.

“Now see I don't believe that,” Jed argued. “I don't think politics should always be considered corruption and ruthlessness. We're here to serve the country, to unite to do better for the American people and we are better when we work together.”

“Well isn't that why we're here? To show you and the Vice President working well together,” Cadence reminded him.

Jed frowned and there was a flare of temper in his blue gaze.

“Cadence,” Leo scolded her quietly.

“No, she has a point,” Jed murmured reluctantly as he waved off Leo's ire. “That man can be as stubborn as a bull, you know it's not all me Cadence,” he added as he gave her a defensive stare, “John has a real problem with teamwork too.”

“I know sir but that's why you have me on his team, isn't it? To build a bridge.” She gave him a curious stare. “It wouldn't be for any other reason now would it, sir?” She shifted a scorning stare onto her father. “I mean you wouldn't exploit my ties to yourselves, would you?”

Jed laughed before he could help it. “Cady let's just say your bridge sounds better.”

Cadence smiled at this.

“And finally, you're getting on the plane and that is a presidential order.”

Cadence's smile vanished. “Mr President we shouldn't fly while it's raining, it's not natural.”

“Nonsense,” Jed dismissed as he stood up from the table, “ducks do it all the time.”

Cadence and Leo stood as well.

“You have my permission to take your prescription as necessary,” Jed added quietly, “but do make sure you board without too much of a scene for the press. I'm sure your father would appreciate it if there isn't an article about it.”

Cadence nodded sombrely at this.

\---

It was deja vu for John all over again. Well maybe it was a little different. The press had been evaded more easily as the bus transporting them across the tarmac to the plane had delayed causing them to miss out on the presidential party boarding. Not that there had been an opportunity for photos anyway given the weather.

The weather was a problem, in fact it was the problem. The rain was a torrent, the clouds had darkened to iron grey and the winds had picked up. This had pushed Cadence into taking more of her medication that she probably should have.

“You know I could just hitch-hike,” Cadence murmured, “I mean it'd be fine. We could have singsongs in the car.”

Gavin, who was trying to aid Cadence up the aisle, snickered quietly as she started to sing. He halted and smiled at her, he had forgotten Cadence's talent for song. “You should've been a singer,” he murmured as he resumed escorting her.

Charlie glanced up in surprise as he heard the pleasing lyrical utterances of a familiar song. “Is that....November Rain?” he queried dubiously as he glanced over at Josh.

Josh, who had paused at the sound, smiled and nodded. “Yeah Charlie, it is.”

Josh turned back to see the Vice President marching down the aisles, stone faced as he caught the disapproving stare of the President. There was no cordial greeting for him this time. John gave a nod of acknowledgement before he continued on to his seat.

“She still sings,” Josh murmured as he caught John's blue stare.

For a very brief moment Josh had forgotten their stations and the political battlefield that had come between them. It was just over two years ago and John Hoynes' campaign team was bonding in a smokey bar. The campaign was still in its early stages, young, full of hope, life and energy and not yet dominated with a sombre seriousness. A wager had been made, a competition started over shots and the out of tune warbling of a middle aged man on karaoke.

Cadence was on stage, a bet lost to Josh who had deviously picked a difficult song he didn't even think would know the lyrics to. She was stunning them with a surprisingly good rendition of That's Life.

John glanced over his shoulder at Josh's words. He could see it too, Cadence half-pissed, clutching a shot glass of tequila and belting out the Frank Sinatra hit with a pantomime to accompany the lyrics. Those had been happier times. He had believed in himself better then.

John turned a cold look on Josh and wondered how Cadence could call herself a traitor when Josh was the real betrayer. John's success as Vice President was hollow, a pyrrhic victory, it had done him more harm than good so far and he had lost the state he was meant to win over his decision to ally with Bartlet.

“She keeps her word too,” John retorted bitingly in a quiet voice, “you never did deliver that song.”

Josh flinched at the Vice President's words and looked at him in surprise. Usually, despite their opposing sides, John still showed him a friendliness, maybe it was forced out his nature to be polite but Josh liked to believe John accepted that Josh meant no hard feelings with his move to the Bartlet camp. It had all been professional after all, not personal, or so Josh kept maintaining. Remembering their moment of camaraderie and a show of friendship in the bar had Josh realising that of course it had been personal. Just like he was still hurt and confused by Cadence's thesis and vanishing act of course John probably felt the same way about Josh's move to the Bartlet team.

Josh stepped into a free row to let the Vice President pass. He had no retort in mind.

Cadence had reached the guitar solo of November Rain and was now dramatically trying to sound it out as she waved her arm up down in the form of strumming a guitar. “Oooh do do, do,” she sang. “Oh damn,” she interrupted herself, “it really is quite bright in here, the lights are all shiny. Do you think birds get confused when they see planes? I always wondered, do they think they're giant predator birds like a condor?”

“Who knows,” Gavin murmured wearily as he tugged her on.

Her eyes darted to the windows nervously. “It was raining last time,” she said numbly, “water and electrics aren't good.” She stopped and dug her heels into the floor. “You know it's unnatural to fly, it really is and when it's dark and raining, wouldn't you call that a bad sign?”

Gavin shook his head. “I'd call this morning's press conference a bad sign,” he grumbled quietly. “That senator ain't slow, he'll remember what we did and he'll find a way to get us back.”

“You know everything was fast, it was a blur, you can't tell up from down when it's a blur, things can happen too fast,” Cadence continued, “and you can scream for them to stop but when they do stop it's jarring, it's death.”

Gavin looked at her oddly at this. “Thank God you're not sitting with me,” he muttered.


	10. Fluff

It was ice cold outside, the day had begun with frost instead of morning dew and dark patches of ice hiding in the black spots of the road as hidden dangers for drivers. The weather had the workers divided, there were those who were so aggrieved by the cold that they showed relief to be at work in the warmth of their offices and there were those who were so angered by the chill that they complained non-stop about it and were annoyed that they had to surrender the heat of their homes to come to work.

Josh joked it was the blue collar versus white collar worker, a joke that had gone down like a lead balloon. Donna had fiercely informed him that she was one of those with a poor heating system at home and Toby had berated him for implying there was a class divide at work.

It had been a couple of months now since the Texas debacle. Debacle was perhaps a strong word but since it was Toby's word, Josh liked to use it with a smile anytime someone mentioned Cadence or the Vice President in his presence.

Josh hadn't seen Cadence since Texas but he could see the evidence of her success with Hoynes in the press and was kept up to date on her work affairs via the gossip mill of Donna, Ginger, Bonnie and Margaret. The last tale he had heard was about how she had a framed photograph of a raccoon local to her neighbourhood on her desk instead of something a little more endearing like a dog or cat. Apparently, it appeared to be taken at night in an alleyway with a flash that had the animal looking a touch rabid. Sam had scoffed at the tale until Josh had laughed and told him about Cadence bonding with a raccoon on the Hoynes' campaign.

Seated at his desk, Josh picked up one of the many daily newspapers he had gathered on his desk. He was conflicted at seeing John Hoynes' bright, grinning face staring back from one and frowned as he read the caption to go with it- Vice President Casts Important Tie-Break Vote in Senate. He rolled his eyes at the heading and knew which plucky PR employee had suggested the word 'important', undoubtedly the same employee who seen this story highlighted as more than it was.

Cadence was good at her job and it sickened Josh.

The VP post was largely viewed as the figurehead or the crowd pleaser, the one who did the promotions but had none of the power. Sure history had tried to change it and improve it but the VP was always going to be number two unless disaster struck. It was why John Hoynes had been reluctant to take the post but he was evidently determined to make the most of it anyway.

Vice President John Hoynes wasn't a celebrity golfer or baby kisser, he was a man of the people, one who had the time for them and one who charmed them and visited them. Worse, as today's heading showed, he was using what power he had and wielding it in a serious manner to make an impact.

The senate had been tied over whether the state should consider expanding funding to support the medical care for wounded soldiers. John had swung the vote in favour of expansion, agreeing that the arguments that existing funding from independent private sources was helpful but concluding that since it was the state who sent the men to war then it was the state who should offer valid funding for those returning wounded from it.

Josh didn't even know why he was annoyed. John was just fulfilling the role of the Vice President by solving a tie at Senate and he had moved the vote the way the President had wanted. Getting publicity for it might venture on tacky but it wasn't like he was using it to undermine the President. In fact that was the worst of it, his language when queried about his decision had mentioned how it was 'for the office of the President' and a 'decision of the White House'. John might write his own speeches but Josh just knew Cadence had probably worked with speech writers Gavin and Cal on the language in terms of promoting good public relations between the Vice President and the President. Well most probably Gavin since by all accounts Cal still despised her. It had to have been her, no one on Hoynes' team had ever been so keen on promoting a public presentation of a harmonious relationship between the Vice and his President until now. Cadence was sneaky about it, unity was equality and that, as far as Josh was concerned, could be a dangerous thing.

Josh wondered if it was John he was annoyed at or Cadence or both. Deciding that it wasn't worth his attention or energy as business with cartels in South America was looking like it might be a pressing issue this week, he discarded the paper to his desk.

\----

At exactly twenty minutes past nine as C.J headed to her office from her latest briefing with the press she was followed by the keen Danny Concannon. Truthfully C.J was happy to be followed by Danny though she kept her face stern. It had been a while since their last flirtation, the Texas business had kept her busy, questions about the relationship between Hoynes and the President had been thick and fast after Senator Whyte's poisonous handshake. Everyone was prying and theorising about what it all meant.

The story had died just last week but as it had been displaced by rumours of cartel movement in South America and the suggestion that the USA had more of an involvement in Colombia that was perhaps prudent, C.J couldn't exactly be happy about it. She was trying to get to the bottom of it all- the DEA's goings on and the CIA, and the rumours of terrorists and drug dealers and illegal contraband coming over the border but no one was willing to speak much about it. Leo had told her not to worry but she knew that was just a temporary measure. Leo's smile hadn't met his eyes and C.J knew that was a bad sign.

John's swing vote with the senate yesterday had dispelled the last of the rumours that that President wasn't happy with the outcome in Texas because it had been more favourable to his Vice than to him. All John's speeches about solving the senate manner for his President had sent a positive message of peace and unity in the White House. C.J just considered it a blessing that the Oval Office wasn't bugged and the President wasn't so foolish as to have his colourful outburst about 'John's blowhard kiss ass display' anywhere with mistrustful ears nearby.

C.J stepped into her office and gave Danny room to follow before she turned to face him swiftly as she leaned back on her desk to show that she was unfazed by his presence.

“Danny how can I help you this morning?” she queried.

She took in his flattering attire. Danny was wearing a smart dark brown suit with a woollen jacket over it. He looked stylish and the maroon shirt poking out from underneath was flattering to his fair skin and golden auburn hair. C.J noticed this but she would never give him the satisfaction of hearing her say it.

Danny fixed a disarming smile on the taller woman as he shut the office door behind him. “Cadence McGarry,” Danny was straight to the point. He knew his bluntness would cost him points even though the irony was he was doing it to be nice. He glimpsed past C.J to the goldfish bowl on her desk and his smile widened slightly. There was an ornamental pumpkin in keeping the goldfish Gail company.

“She's becoming noticeable on the Vice President's team,” Danny mused lightly.

C.J rolled her eyes to the ceiling before she could help it. “Really Danny, are you writing fluff pieces on staff now? The nuclear waste exposure in Ohio not interesting enough for you?” she quipped sardonically, referring to a piece mentioned this morning.

Danny gave a soft laugh at this. “C.J I come in peace,” he insisted. “It's not me doing the writing this time. I'm the senior White House correspondent, the Eisenhower team doesn't interest me,” he pointed out. “Cadence has her points of interest for the gossip quarters, you can't deny that C.J. She is the Chief of Staff's daughter and I've heard she was on the Hoynes' campaign initially but then she wrote an unflattering thesis about the Electoral College-”

C.J held up the palm of her right hand. “I'm going to stop you there Danny, that isn't a secret,” she informed him flatly.

“I know,” he said calmly. “There's been sources C.J,” he said bluntly, “who say the problems didn't start or end there. She was gone for two years-”

“She took a break Danny, that's not your business,” C.J scorned him. Her eyes narrowed as she stepped away from her desk and folded her arms. “I'm a little disappointed you're doing this.”

Danny shook his head and continued to smile. “C.J,” he addressed her quietly in a friendly manner, “it's not my style to write personal pieces. I'm being sincere when I say I'm not the author and I'm trying to do a favour here coming to you with this. There's going to be a story,” he got to the point, “questioning her mental stability and ability to carry out her role in Hoynes' team and there's going to be a suggestion that she only got her job through Leo.”

Danny held up a hand before C.J could interrupt him. “I know C.J, it is fluff,” he kept his smile in an attempt to keep the woman at ease, “but there's a possibility there's more to it. If it was just the obvious digs of nepotism and misadventure in her youth I wouldn't have even come to you with it. I think someone is unhappy with her success and is trying to find a way to oust her.”

“You think?” C.J snapped at him with a look of outrage. “Who's writing this garbage?” She stretched her hands outwards in a gesture of exasperation. “Of course people think Leo got her, her job, she is his daughter but she's good Danny, you've seen that.”

The press secretary was already trying to work out what press person was trying to dig into Cadence's life and wondered who was leaking information to them about Cadence. What did they know and more importantly, what didn't C.J know?

Danny remained calm as he replied. “She's doing well for Hoynes, C.J, people are interested now. It's not just about where she's been after the thesis or her thesis, it's everything before as well. Leo got hit with a bad scandal and now there's a suggestion maybe things run in the family. Rumours are stating that maybe Cadence couldn't handle the fallout from her thesis and had a breakdown.”

“Danny that's out of line,” C.J snapped angrily. “And you should really talk to Hoynes' team about this.” She frowned at him as ire filled her blue stare. “Why are you coming to me with this?” she demanded.

Danny smiled again but his smile was weaker, he could feel the ice seeping from C.J's stare.

“C.J if something comes up, she is Leo's daughter and the President seems fond of her. Also, you know if there is a story there, something more than fluff then I can't ignore it, it's news C.J.”

“Nothing is going to come up,” C.J grumbled. “She was young when that thesis came out, she took a break to escape the scandal, that is not the same as having a breakdown.” C.J was doubting her own words, the truth was she had no idea where in the hell Cadence had gone or what she had done and she knew nothing about her youth or what troubles had haunted her then.

Danny nodded. “Sure C.J but maybe ask her about her gap years just in case. She's tough to track a history on and civilians don't usually have redacted information in their files.”

C.J couldn't conceal her surprise at this. She looked at Danny with wide, blue eyes, stunned that Cadence could have any kind of record and more than a little angry that someone had breached whatever security was on it to find it. Her immediate thought was to speak to Leo but she didn't want him worried unnecessarily.

C.J opted for anger over shock and frowned. “Danny who's the reporter?”

Danny shook his head with a genuine spark of sorrow in his eyes. “You know I can't do that C.J, I've done enough telling you this. I don't know who told the reporter to go hunting either before you ask.”

C.J fumed as she folded her arms and frowned at the press correspondent. She loathed the press' unspoken code to protect each other and their 'unnamed sources' no matter the damage they might cause.

“Look,” Danny said calmly, “I hear Colombia is coming up, it might distract from this business, I'm just letting you know that's all. Maybe it's something, maybe it's nothing, I don't know anything solid.”

C.J sighed and nodded. “Alright Danny, maybe we can just ignore when it comes out, cartels are a bigger story than some employee's teenage years surely.”

C.J shrugged off her anger as best she could, knowing it wasn't fair to Danny. She approached him with a smile, drawn to him despite herself. He walked a thin line between work and courtship, always risking a scoop for a kiss. Sometimes it backfired when they got too close and C.J burned him as revenge for a scathing story he had unleashed. It was unfair and she knew it. He was unprofessional for pushing their passion and she was unprofessional for assuming he should choose personal ties over work ones. They were doomed.

“I'm grateful Danny,” she assured. She leaned down to him and kissed him. They were doomed for sure but that was in the long run, in the short run she would enjoy the pleasure while she could. Everything with Danny was hot and fresh and there was definitely a certain erotic thrill to the potential of sleeping with the enemy. Things had never gone that far yet and C.J wondered if they would or could. Could she have casual sex with Danny? She didn't know and she wasn't willing to find out yet.

Danny welcomed the kiss even though he had previously scorned her for grabbing and kissing him on a whim. He wanted more and needed more but he was afraid to repeatedly admonish her in case he got less. She had the warmth of a morning coffee on her mouth and it was a welcome feeling with the cold of winter so near.

\------

“Baby Bartlet!”

Zoey Bartlet, youngest born of the First Family, turned from the equally surprised Charlie with a startled squeal. “Cady Cat!” she cried out in delight.

Cadence McGarry stopped waving and pulled a face at the nickname before laughing as the teenager came running up to her with all the excitement of a schoolgirl rushing to her boyband crush.

Charlie watched with quiet amusement. Zoey had pestered him about Cadence a few times, apparently unsatisfied to accept that Cadence worked in a different building to him and therefore was unlikely to run into him often. She had spoken of Cadence with fondness and sorrow and Charlie sensed that she missed the older woman. He was glad to see them reunited even if it was in the corridors of the busy West Wing.

Zoey grasped the taller woman in a hug as she laughed with a raw joy at seeing her.

“Cady it's been years!” she exclaimed. “Why haven't I seen you yet?”

Cadence stiffened slightly in the teenager's grasp before smiling down at her. “Working for the V.P keeps me a little busy B.B,” she said teasingly.

Cadence glanced over Zoey's head and spied Charlie lingering against the wall watching them. She looked at him in confusion before withdrawing from Zoey. “Let's see,” she said as she held Zoey loosely with two gloved hands and looked her up and down, “you're a little taller but still a mouse compared to me. Hmm,” Cadence frowned, “still no wrinkles kid, damn I hate the young.”

Zoey Bartlet was the youngest of the President's daughter, sweet sixteen was a close shadow behind her as she entered seventeen and reached for adulthood firmly with both hands, having already gotten accepted into college despite being a minor. Pale skinned with her mother's dark auburn and chestnut hair, Zoey mastered an innocent beauty, her smiles were sweet and her green eyes were still bright with hope.

Zoey laughed as she shrugged off Cadence's grasp. “You're only six years older than me,” she complained.

“Only,” Cadence sneered. “I used to babysit you B.B. Never forget,” she said solemnly as she clasped a hand to her chest mockingly, “I know when you stopped taking a teddy to bed, I got you through your first broken heart and I took you to get your ears pierced.”

Cadence lowered her hand and took the opportunity to smooth down her light brown jacket and skirt.

Zoey looked embarrassed even as she laughed. Finally remembering Charlie, she glanced over to him and waved him over eagerly. “You were more of a bad influence than a good baby sitter,” Zoey retorted. “You and Ellie.”

Cadence's gaze filled with sorrow at the mention of Zoey's older sister. The Bartlet sisters were a good part of Cadence's past, although they had grown up in separate states, the friendship of their fathers had meant many memorable moments together. There had been sleepovers and extended weekend visits. Cadence and Mallory had always enjoyed swapping the Chicago city life for the country ways of Manchester, New Hampshire on the Bartlet farm.

Zoey smiled up at Cadence. “Have you seen Ellie yet?” she pried. A shadow of unease crossed her face. “Dad hasn't seen her in a while,” she admitted. “She's not even that far, she's studying in Baltimore.”

Cadence nodded before rubbing at her hair awkwardly. “I haven't really seen anyone Zoey, I've had no time.”

Cadence glanced over to Charlie. He had approached them quietly with his usual tranquil expression. Cadence caught a whiff of a woody aftershave from him and her curiosity grew as she noticed that he was wearing a particularly nice looking suit. She noticed there were no Secret Service agents lingering by and just the usual West Wing workers rushing through the corridor with files and paperwork and not a care for the President's daughter and his aide.

“Afternoon Charlie,” Cadence greeted him politely.

Cadence liked Charlie, he had never seemed phased by her behaviour on either plane ride to and from Texas, he had never made fun of her and had always been cordial and helpful. On the plane ride back he had even shown up at her seat with an offering of raisin cookies. Unfortunately, Cadence had rejected them with a non-verbal response that consisted of her vomiting whilst John had all but bolted from his seat in a moment of terror and disgust, determined to get away from vomiting range as he waved at Charlie shouting 'get the cookies gone'.

Cadence had apologised to Charlie after they had landed and mumbled about travel sickness.

“Afternoon ma'am,” Charlie smiled and shook his head, “sorry, Cady,” he corrected.

Zoey, now standing between them, glanced from one to the other eagerly. Her smile had faded and her stare had turned serious.

Cadence looked to the teen out of the corner of her eye, unsure about her expression. “Um am I missing something?” Cadence pried.

Zoey gave a giggle as she gave Charlie a fond glance. “We're dating,” she admitted.

Cadence's blue-grey gaze filled with surprise as she looked from Charlie to Zoey.

Charlie looked noticeably embarrassed but Zoey was immune, confident as always in her choices.

“Hmm do I congratulate or tease?” Cadence quipped.

Zoey gave the older woman a light shove on her arm. “Congratulate,” she said firmly.

Cadence laughed. “Alright, congratulations on finding someone to put up with you,” she mocked. “Anyway, I was heading somewhere before I bumped into you, you know. I'm working now.”

Zoey frowned at this and turned a pleading stare up to Cadence.

Charlie was relieved at Cadence's words, not that he liked to see Zoey sad by a reunion cut short but he was considering that it could be a matter of time before Sam or Josh appeared and then he knew the teasing would begin and if they saw Cadence the bickering would probably come as well.

“Cady Cat it's been years,” Zoey repeated, “actual years, we need to catch up, I've missed you.”

Cadence gave Zoey a warm smile. “You're the only one,” she mused, “but alright. Mal did say I should arrange some sort of house warming thing. Problem is I have nothing in my house, I don't even have heat, so how about a very brief tour and then we go for dinner, you, me and Mal and whatever Secret Service agent on your protection that likes Chinese food.”

Zoey winced at this reminder. “I have my own personal agent, her name is Gina,” she confessed. “Not subtle for college but she is nice,” she admitted.

Cadence smiled. “Sure, well I'll meet her at dinner.”

“Tonight?” Zoey quipped hopefully.

Cadence's smile softened slightly and she dipped her head briefly before glancing back up to Zoey. “It's a little short notice but I'll see what Mal says,” she gave into the begging gaze. “Damn Zoey, you are still a master of the puppy dog eyes.” Cadence turned her smile over to Charlie. “Does she get you with that?”

Charlie gave a grin at this. “Sometimes,” he admitted, “but I'm working on resisting it.”  
Cadence nodded. “Good job, stay strong Charlie.”

Cadence opened up the brown satchel hanging over her shoulder and tugged out a notepad and pen. She scribbled a number onto a sheet hastily, tore it off and handed it to Zoey. “My home number, we'll say around seven, you give me a call and I'll give you the address.”

“Alright,” Zoey said happily as she accepted it.

“Now, I really do have to go,” Cadence insisted, “my dad is expecting me.”

Zoey nodded. “Okay, well I'll see you later then and you can tell me all about your new job, I want to hear everything.”

Cadence nodded back before she started walking on, moving at a brisk pace as she hoped she wasn't late. Her father hadn't exactly specified at a time when he had phoned her office to request her presence, nor had he gone into too much detail about what he was looking. The vagueness was a bad sign and had Cadence pondering her last duties over the past few days. She had gone through them in her head meticulously but couldn't think of any that would have made her father mad.

Cadence headed through the maze of workers and offices towards the hub of it. Her father's office was beside the Oval Office, central to all goings on in the White House.

Cadence stepped through to Mrs Landingham's domain first and gave the woman a small smile.

“Good afternoon Cadence,” Mrs Landingham greeted cheerfully as she glanced up with a smile.

“Good afternoon,” Cadence retorted.  
“Here to see your father?” Mrs Landingham nodded to the door of the Oval Office. “He's in with the President. I'll buzz him for you now.”

Cadence was ready to protest and say it could wait but she hesitated, realising that her father wouldn't know she was out here otherwise.

Mrs Landingham hit the buzzer of the intercom. Once and then again. A crackle followed alongside shouting from behind the doors.

“He'll just be a moment,” Mrs Landingham said sweetly. She bowed her head and resumed her writing.

The door of the Oval Office opened and Leo peered out curiously. His gaze turned serious as it fell on his daughter. “Cady, you're here, good,” he said as if it was anything but. “Come in please.”

Cadence, already wary of her father's stare, filled with concern as he invited her into the Oval Office. “In there?” she quipped dubiously.

Leo nodded. “Yes.” He pushed the door open for her and stepped back in.

“Damn it,” Cadence muttered under her breath, “I don't even know what I've done this time.”

Cadence headed through the door and closed it behind her. She wondered why she always seemed to be shutting herself into these rooms with awkward situations, was it part of her masochist side?

The President stood there and for the first time in a while Cadence saw him only as Jed as he looked to her with the kindly concern of a father. Cadence hated it, she didn't want to be a cause for concern again.

“Cady,” Jed was the one to address her first as Leo came to stand beside him, presenting a unified front, “your father and I need to talk to you about a few things.”

Cadence felt her body tauten, she was still cold from the autumnal chill outside and could feel tiny bumps rising up on her legs. She didn't speak, she wasn't going to volunteer information.

Leo could see the worry on his daughter's face and knew their vagueness was cruel. He gave her a sympathetic look. “C.J came to me this morning,” he explained. “Danny Concannon, the senior White House press correspondent advised her that someone in the press has been looking into you, tipped off by some unknown source.”

“About what?” Cadence demanded sharply.

“Your past,” Leo admitted. “It was vague, there was a mentioning of your mental health issues and questions about where you were for the past couple of years. It took a few hours for me to find this particular journalist, Danny was a little unwilling to give them up,” he added bitingly.

“Do I get a name?” Cadence queried numbly. She felt violated that someone had felt the need to snoop into her life in the hopes of making a story out of it.

Leo shook his head sombrely and frowned. “I had to make a deal,” he grumbled, “to find and silence this person.”

“Wow dad you're making it sound like you bumped them off,” she retorted with bitter cheer.

“The thought was there,” Leo muttered, “but then I had to remind myself that doing that to a member of the press would not be good for the reputation of this White House.”

“Loving fathers would understand you,” Jed remarked empathetically.

Leo looked at his daughter squarely in the eye. “They're getting a one on one interview with the President,” he explained, “to discuss an issue of their choosing. It's quite a sacrifice the President has made. Danny also had to profit from it,” he added pointedly with a frown.

Cadence glanced from her father to Jed. She still didn't know what to say.

“They knew you had self-harmed and once tried to kill yourself,” Leo said bluntly. He hated talking about it because it was a reminder of his failures as a parent. He hadn't been there, only Mallory had and he thanked God every day for that.

Cadence frowned at the reminder and rubbed her hands up her arms instinctively causing the sleeves of her jacket to wrinkle.

“So it's a mental health angle then,” she murmured coldly, “am I sane enough for my job?”

Leo nodded. “Something like that but there was more Cadence, they got a file on you and said it had things taken out from it.”

“A file?” she echoed.

Leo nodded again. “I was Secretary of Labor,” he confessed, “and an alcoholic, and I am ashamed to admit it but I didn't need the scandal of my daughter trying to kill herself and getting sent to a mental facility for help becoming public.”

Leo sagged slightly and for a very rare moment he looked tired. “I'm sorry, I really am but I used my position to ensure your medical notes were concealed.”

“Oh.” Cadence was stunned, this wasn't the direction she had expected the conversation to cover.

“Cady,” Jed interjected again, “we've stopped this reporter but we still don't know who prompted him to go looking for this information, he said it was an anonymous tip off.”

“Sir,” Leo grumbled with a frown.

“What Leo?” Jed queried abruptly, annoyed to be interrupted.

“You said he,” Leo scolded him.

“Ooh.” Jed had the good grace to look sheepish. He glanced over at Cadence and waved carelessly with one hand. “Cady you didn't hear that, Presidential order of secrecy.”

“You know saying things like that could lead to accusations of corruption sir,” Leo chastised him.

Jed glanced over at him in exapseration. “Leo I've had to turn a ten minute chat into an hour long interview because you threatened to ruin his career and the careers of his future children.”

Cadence gave a faint smile at this.

Leo sighed and resumed looking to Cadence. “Cady, what we're trying to say here is that this still might come out. It's my fault, I made your records secret and that will just have people wanting to get at them more.”

Cadence swallowed hard, her throat was dry and the truth was, despite the threat her father was advising her of she still felt like she'd dodged a bullet. Her suicide attempt wasn't all that private, not really and there were much worse things in her past that could come tumbling out instead.

“I think if they do, you ignore them,” Jed advised. “Rise above it and it will soon die out. It's just an over zealous fluff piece in the end. What you need to be aware of is who might have sent this reporter on the hunt in the first place,” he said with a wag of his finger. “We'll keep an eye on it of course but you'll have to clue Hoynes, the Vice President,” he corrected hastily, “and his team in on this, you've done too well to be bothered by these cheap stunts.”  
Cadence nodded sombrely. She figured it could be any number of people, sure Gavin and Tanya had come around to her but she still had plenty of enemies on John's team.

“There's more,” Leo continued. He gave his daughter another apologetic gaze. “Cadence, if they got this they could get other stories as well, I need to know, where have you been the past couple of years? When in the hell were you in a plane crash?”

Cadence felt a roll of nausea at her father's questions. She shook her head. “Dad I was just away,” she said with a forced calm, “travelling to escape the scandal. I went round the States and South America. It was a bush plane, small and cheap, it was nothing dramatic, it barely passed the trees before it came down again, I mean I'm standing here with no lasting injuries.”

Cadence gestured down to herself pointedly with a smile. She turned her gaze down as she did and filled with hatred for herself. She didn't think the lie would have came so easily.


	11. Almost a Scandal

The sky was turning to a deep sapphire blue as the sun started to give way to the familiar dark chill of a late autumn afternoon. For the Vice President's detail it was far from ideal to be out jogging in, on a personal level the pair found it cold and on a security level it was risky with visibility becoming limited as the sun disappeared, plus there was the cliché of more dangers lurking in the dark. John, in true fashion, had listened to their concerns, nodded, given a tight smile and advised them that he was going out running and whether they came or not did not bother him.

John stared ahead as he ran, focused only on his breathing and avoiding any hazards. Normally he preferred to run in the morning, there were less people, there was better visibility and the day felt young and fresh but this afternoon he was pissed and he needed the distraction.

Running was an ironic escapism and the thought of that made the Vice President smile as his trainers pounded off the concrete. It was a deception, no matter how far he ran today he would eventually have to run back. Hell he was already running back. Suzanne would make a mockery of that, he thought bitterly, taunt him for running back to her.

Suzanne knew John couldn't leave her, the people liked a family man and John already had the stain of one divorce on him. If he added another he didn't believe there would be a re-election. Hell he might not even finish this term if he had a divorce, the family loving people might bay for his resignation. He was a Southern man after all, his voters were traditional value lovers.

Out of the corner of his eye John spied the White House. A grand building that made a mockery of him as he came to be within its shadow yet again. He wondered why he had even come this route and blamed his security detail for insisting he travelled up a private route instead of the public one.

John stiffened at the sight and looked ahead, determined to run by it as quickly as he could and put its taunting form behind him. He was rewarded with the sight of a familiar face escaping from its grounds.

John smiled again as he headed for the figure, putting extra effort into his steps as he hoped to surprise them before his security detail could give them warning. His trainers hit hard off the concrete once more as he accelerated. He'd been out for forty minutes but he still felt a sense of power as his limbs carried him forth with ease. He was proud of his body, he had always kept it in good shape, partly because of vanity and a knowledge that, shallow as it was, a good physical appearance was appealing to voters but also because it was an excuse to get out of the house or, in this case, out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

“Cady!”

John's Deputy Assistant of Public Relations gave a colourful swear as she halted with a look of surprise.

John had almost run her down.

John halted with a grin, knowing it was childish to take pleasure from startling the young woman and yet unable to stop himself from it.

Cadence stared up at him and almost instantly dropped her stare to the ground as she felt her cheeks redden.

Realising she hadn't responded to him, Cadence made herself look up again. She knew she should do it quickly, head straight up, no lingering, just professional but it was too tempting not to stare. John's muscular legs were bare, his loose navy shorts stopped high above the knee but crept up to the waist giving the illusion of length meeting the coal grey t-shirt that was tucked into them. The t-shirt was tight at his chest, the font 'United States Naval Academy' drawing attention to the taut form of his pectoralis muscle which was loosely outlined by the thin grey cloth that had started to cling to him with sweat.

“Um...morning John, shoot, Vice President, Mr Vice President!” Cadence stammered awkwardly. She fidgeted with the strap of her satchel at her shoulder and awkwardly looked to the street on her right.

John raised his hands to his hips as he laughed and immediately welcomed the distraction she had unwittingly delivered to him.

“Afternoon Cady, it's good afternoon,” he corrected her. “Unless you are one of those odd seasonal people who considers it proper to say evening because it's gotten darker earlier,” he tacked on.

Cadence turned back to him but her eyes dropped again. “Hmm, I think for me the whole day just merges into...well into one day,” she concluded lamely.

Internally Cadence cursed herself for her idiotic, schoolgirl stammering. She couldn't stop staring, her eyes drawn to his exposed legs as she thought of how they were powerful enough to support him and her raised up against a wall. Her throat turned dry at the recollection and she tried to dismiss it.

“Where are you going?” John pried gently. “Or should I ask where you were coming from?”

“That big, white building over there,” she retorted sardonically as she gestured to it with one hand. “Not sure if you're familiar with it.”

Cadence realised her rudeness almost immediately as her hand raised to her brow to pinch the top of her nose where a headache was beginning.

John's smile dimmed at her sarcasm. He saw the subdued anger in her gaze and knew from her attitude that, like him, she was in a bad mood.

John was conscious of his pair of agents standing in the background, probably not listening but he could never be sure. He took a step closer to Cadence and stared down at her with a calm expression.

“Cadence I think you knew the meaning of my question,” he chided her quietly.

She had her hair down, it was a little wavy from her fast trek and in need of a brush but it always flattered her better down that up and she was wearing brown, a colour John had always felt suited her.

Cadence dropped her hand and nodded agreeably.

“I apologise Mr Vice President,” she said sincerely as she met his stare. “I shouldn't talk to you like that. I'm working, I promise, I was at the Eisenhower and I'm going back there now, I just had to see Mr McGarry and the President.”

John's frown deepened but he didn't know what annoyed him more, Cadence's sudden summoning of an impersonal professional attitude or the mentioning of Leo and the President.

“Had to?” he echoed.

She nodded solemnly. “I was asked to.”

John glanced to the White House and sighed before he turned a fresh smile back to Cadence. He had spied how she flustered at him in his running gear and he wanted that bashful, lusting gaze of hers back.

“Well, let me escort you back to the Eisenhower then,” he offered. “I was going there anyway,” he admitted.

“I can't run,” she protested as she gestured to her brown heels.

John welcomed the excuse to gaze down at her legs without being obvious about it. She was wearing flesh coloured pantyhose, as much a tease as an obstacle, and small heeled, leather cut pumps with straps. John nodded seriously at them.

“Yes but your shoes have straps so they can't fall off,” he pointed out.

Cadence smiled before she could help it. “So I have to risk humiliation because I made the mistake of wearing straps?” she queried.

“No, you have to make a valiant effort to keep up,” John corrected. “It's only five minutes on foot, if even that,” he added smugly.

Cadence tensed slightly as he puffed out his chest just a little. She knew he had to know what he was doing but that knowledge couldn't help her to resist.

“Can we get this over with then?” she queried, a little more good humouredly than she had been mere seconds ago.

“Sure.”

John turned and started to jog. It was light and barely effective. He had given up his goal of exercise for the evening anyway, a forty-five minute run was hardly a great feat but he wasn't going to ignore the opportunity to spend time with Cadence. With her he was still solving his problem of needing a distraction.

He laughed and shook his head as he heard her heels clattering noisily behind him.

One of the agents glanced back, both curious and mystified. Their brown stare turned amused before they looked ahead once more.

John, unable to resist, glanced over his shoulder to see the young woman attempting some awkward sprint. Her skirt was too tight to allow for much leg extending and her pantyhose added limitations as well. Her blazer and shirt, both with full length sleeves, added a stiffness to her arms swinging back and forth and were ill designed for exercise.

John watched as she moved to his side and slowed to his jogging pace. He was aware of the attention the noise of her heels drew from the White House staffers who used this private route to journey to and from the grand white building with an element of discretion. John didn't care and Cadence's expression suggested she didn't either.

When John glanced at her she smiled and shrugged. “I don't do things half-assed,” she said proudly.

The young woman did seem noticeably relieved however when the Eisenhower appeared in view.

The Eisenhower was another grand, white building that seemed to make up for its inferior purpose by multiplying everything- wings, floors, columns, chimneys windows. John had considered the building suitable enough for office until Cadence had jested that it looked like it was suffering a duplication virus. The White House was neoclassical- simple, divine and subtly powerful and beautiful. The Eisenhower Executive Office Building was Second Empire style and as pompous and self-important as its mouthful of a name. The implication that the Eisenhower was trying to compensate for something was not lost on John.

They entered together and John delayed to smile and greet the staff he passed by. He dismissed his security detail, assuring them that his run, brief as it had been, was over.

Cadence glanced over at John curiously. Her stare turned serious as she bit her lower lip slightly. “Do you have a moment Mr Vice President?” she pried quietly.

John rubbed at his neck and nodded. “Sure, let's go to my office,” he suggested.

He tried to ignore the feeling he got as she sounded out his title, quiet and yet full of respect. His wife never respected the title or the office, it wasn't good enough, for her nothing ever was.

John led the way through several corridors and past familiar offices. The area was busy but nothing compared to the ever hiving West Wing.

John paused outside the door to his office, opened it and gestured for Cadence to enter first.

She stepped into the centre of the room and waited for John to follow.

He closed the door and stared at her calmly before looking pointedly to the seats in the room.

The room was bland, a fancier version of a generic office. It had a large desk and leather chair and a circle of seats before it with a table abandoned against the wall to carry tea, coffee, water or something stronger if one required it. There was a globe in one corner, a bookshelf against another wall and the usual décor of flags and portraits of Vices past, leering down at the current one like restless ghosts.

Cadence was staring at John with an uneasy expression. She knew she had to explain her day to him, sure her father had silenced the press for now but for now wasn't for ever. If the Vice President had been in a suit and looking a little less...what? Attractive? She knew John still looked good in a suit. That wasn't it. Cadence considered maybe it was the casualness of his attire. Hell maybe it was because anytime he had gone jogging during his campaign and she found him with his clothes clinging against him with sweat and his dark hair a messy tousle, she had found it impossible to resist the urge to tug his clothes off and have wild, sweaty sex with him.

“Cady?”

His voice pulled her back to reality.

“I have something to tell you,” she admitted, “but I don't really know where to begin.” She paced about the room and pushed back some of her hair. “Suffice to say I think I've brought trouble again, without meaning to.”

Cadence glanced over at John apologetically. “There's a reporter sniffing around,” she said bluntly, “or rather there was, dad bought him off.” She paused and gave a bitter smile. “And that's not going to help with the daddy's girl crap I endure here,” she murmured. She shook her head. “Anyway, they were looking into me, apparently someone suggested that maybe I wasn't mentally stable enough for this job.”

John felt a hint of relief at her words and then guilt for that relief. He had been expecting revelations of another scandal. He watched her cross her arms so her hands could creep up to brush against the top half of her arms. He knew she was absent-mindedly reaching for scars unseen beneath her jacket and his guilt worsened.

“They learned I had self-harmed,” she said bluntly. “The story is dead for now, shit,” she cursed crossly. She looked away as grief mingled with the anger in her eyes. “It might resurface,” she continued quietly, “and that's going to be embarrassing.”

She knew she was being vague but she didn't see a need for details. She didn't know everything and John didn't need to know the reporter had known about her suicide attempt. If another reporter did come along then she would deal with it then. It was unfair, she deserved her privacy and even discussing this much was difficult.

“You're not quitting,” John said bluntly, his Texan accent raw and thick as it slipped through.

“Huh?” Cadence glanced over at him in puzzlement.

John's hands were on his hips again as he gave her a firm stare. “If you're going to offer a resignation I'm going to reject it.”

“Well you're chancing it then,” she scolded him with a calm stare, “you all are. It's easy to say ignore it and it loses its power but it didn't work that way with dad.”

John relaxed his stance slightly. “Cadence, don't take this the wrong way but your father is the Chief of Staff, that's a little bit more important than what you do.”

A laugh escaped her before she could help it. “I know,” she retorted. “I just, this is a theme with me whether I want it or not. Cadence McGarry, mistress of mysteries.” She grinned. “Sounds better than source of scandals doesn't it?”

“Cady, do you want to talk about it?” John pried seriously. “Your harming yourself that is.” It had been a time before him, some none too distant pain in her past before she had joined his campaign. John had asked about her scars during his campaign but she had described the memories as too raw to discuss.

Cadence's eyes widened slightly before she gave a small, sad smile. “You know, no one else asked that today,” she murmured. “They want it to go away, ignore it and it loses power,” she repeated quietly. She shook her head. “I think I'll follow that. It's better for the job and I don't want to talk about it right now.”

“Are you sure?”

Cadence fixed a serious stare up at him. “Do you want to talk about your bad day?” she queried calmly.

John frowned, Cadence had always had a good read on him, to others he could wear the affable, friendly mask of charm but she usually had a knack for seeing through it when something was annoying him.

“No,” he retorted quietly. He knew mentioning his wife would kill the conversation, it usually did.

John took a few steps towards Cadence, closing the gap between them. He raised his right hand and weaved it through her hair loosely. “Politics and scandal do go hand in hand,” he said softly.

Cadence nodded briskly. She could feel the heat of his breath brushing against her as he spoke. He was too close but she didn't step back. “You can't want scandal John,” she retorted in a low voice.

“No,” he responded agreeably, “I don't.”

His hand slipped down to her chin and he tilted it up and found her willing. He leaned down and kissed her. Her mouth was soft and still laced with the evening chill. John realised her body radiated with cold and that he had been a bit of a bastard to have her running out in it with no coat.

“Cady where's your coat?” he pried as he pulled back.

“I left it behind,” she murmured. “I just wanted away.”

John nodded in understanding. “You're cold,” he said as his free hand brushed against her cheek. “We have to fix that.”

He kissed the icy tip of her nose lightly and smiled as both his hands slipped slowly down to meet at the buttons of her blazer.

“By stripping me?” she queried mockingly.

“I had an idea that we might share body heat,” he suggested. He was calm and confident, quite certain that she wouldn't resist or reject him this time.

“Hmm.”

Cadence knew what she should do, what she had promised herself she would do but she was tired, tired of denying herself something that made her happy and tired of the long day she had had and the constant struggle she had as her personal troubles and past continuously tried to devour her present. She just wanted one moment of distraction and pleasure.

“Well for that you have to strip too,” she retorted with a smile.

John nodded along as he finished unbuttoning her jacket. He reached his hands about her waist and deftly plucked her up and placed her on the desk behind.

Cadence blushed as his hands reached up under her skirt to fumble with her pantyhose. She glanced past him to the door and frowned. “John, did you lock that?”

“Can't,” he retorted dismissively as he started to unroll the delicate gossamer fabric.

“John,” her voice turned stern.

John frowned as she closed her legs against his hands. He glanced up at her with an amused stare. “Cady I'm the Vice President, it would be risky if someone could lock themselves with me in my office,” he reasoned.

Cadence glanced to the right crossly as her hands dug into the edges of the desk. She shook her head and John frowned again as he knew what was coming.

“I shouldn't be doing this,” she murmured. “God damn it, I come here to tell you the press is sniffing around my private affairs and we start this. No, it's far too risky and stupid and wrong.”

“Cady I'm not stupid,” he argued, “do you think I'd risk this kind of scandal.”

“No, which is why you're going to let me off this desk and we'll act like nothing happened,” she said firmly.

John sighed but he backed away from Cadence and the desk anyway. “Fine,” he muttered angrily.

Cadence pushed herself off the desk and back to her feet. She fumbled to fix her pantyhose back upright against before buttoning up her blazer. “I want to Mr Vice President, I do but I can't.”

John waved her off heatedly. It was hard to ignore the rush of passion that had been building in him, without an outlet the energy was turning to frustration.

“You can go,” he murmured with a gesture to the door.

She nodded and headed for it hastily.

“Cady,” he called after her.

She glanced over her shoulder curiously.

“I'm glad you told me,” he said quietly, “we'll talk it over with our Communications team and come up with a plan if the press starts sniffing around again. It's nonsense anyway and you're not quitting over it.”  
Cadence gave him a grateful smile. “Alright Mr Vice President and thank you.”

John felt a familiar stirring again as she sounded out his title and he grimaced slightly. He pushed his right hand through his hair before waving her off again. “Go, do whatever you planned on doing.”

“Right sir.”

Cadence left the room at last. She headed for her office, eager to wrap up some notes about a potential opportunity to promote technology in the more rural areas of the country. She glanced at her watch as she walked. She didn't have long before she was due to head home and start getting ready for dinner with Mal and Zoey. Truthfully she wasn't looking forward to it, she didn't want Zoey pulled into her life when it was still proving to be a complicated mess, she was the President's daughter after all but she knew Zoey would be crushed if she cancelled. She also feared that her father might tell her sister about the business with the press and knew Mal would get outraged and start probing over her sister's feelings on the matter.

Mal knew better than anyone why Cadence had self-harmed and, more importantly, she knew why Cadence had tried to commit suicide. A little detail she had omitted from John, was that the press knew about her attempt on her life. She wondered what details they knew about that and couldn't imagine how the public might devour her over it. Her family was Catholic, so was the President's, and good Catholics didn't do these things, people who treated the gift of life so callously were doomed to Hell according to some.

Cadence might hate the judgement of religious fanatics but she knew that the church and chapel goers made up a large proportion of the voters. It was why Jed kept most of blasphemies private and attended church with his wife even though he found fault with the preacher and why John stayed married despite his unhappiness with an unsatisfied wife who found his every success a failure. Cadence wondered and worried what these voters who knew nothing of her might say when the press publicised her darkest moments with no sense of personality.


	12. Punishment

Sam knew someone was being punished but what he couldn't work out was if it was him or Josh. He wondered perhaps if it was both of them together and tried to work out if their slights merited equal damnation.

“This is your fault you know,” Josh apparently had no doubts over who was to blame.

“Now see I don't agree,” Sam retorted as he pushed his glasses up his nose before placing his chilled hands back into his coat pockets.

The pair were walking in a hurry to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on an errand they were both in agreement could have been delegated to a lesser staffer. Although neither was eager to get there it was cold outside and whilst the groundsmen had ensured there was no ice on the paths they could do nothing for the arctic nip in the air.

On either side of them were tall trees with decayed brown leaves crumpling to hard dirt and grass turned white with frost. Ordinarily scenic, the flora seemed an unsettling reminder of death this morning.

“Well you wouldn't,” Josh retorted with a shrug. He frowned as they reached the Vice President's domain. “Frenemies,” he said flatly as he stared up at the grey and off-white building.

“What?” Sam glanced over at his co-worker in puzzlement.

“Frenemies,” Josh repeated with a nod to the building. “Donna was yammering about some old acquaintance who she didn't like but was seeing for drinks anyway because it's the done thing, she used that word. Don't you think it suits Hoynes and the President a little?”

Josh glanced over at Sam curiously, squinting slightly at the late morning sun, it offered no warmth and blinded as its watery light reflected off the frost and ice.

“No,” Sam retorted bluntly with a shake of his head, “and you should call him the Vice President, he does deserve his title Josh,” he chided quietly. “They're mutually benefiting acquaintances,” he decided.

Josh let out a snort of laughter at this as he turned ahead and continued up to the main doors. “The Vice President would not agree with that.”

They stepped into a busy lobby and nodded to the Secret Service on duty as they flashed their ID cards before preparing for the expected walk through the metal detectors. Even trusted staff were never fully trusted.

Once they had headed through the security they paused and glanced at each other dubiously.

“You don't know which way we should go, do you?” Josh queried quietly as he slung his tan coat over the crook of his arm.

Sam shook his head and leaned close to Josh so his voice was audible to him but hopefully inaudible to others. “No but they can probably sense fear so we should act like why we know and just pick a direction.”

Josh recoiled from Sam with a dubious glance. “Sense fear?” he repeated mockingly with a grin. “Sam they're not wolves and weren't you the one all for us being one team?”

“Yes but they're not going to treat us with equal respect if they think we got lost in their lobby,” Sam hissed back. He glanced about warily, unsure if he wanted to see a familiar face or not.

“Good morning, are you two lost?” the sarcastic peals of Gavin Drake called out.

He approached them with a wide grin, briefcase in one hand and a mobile phone in the other. He pocketed his phone in his trouser pocket as he reached them. He wore a dark, woollen coat which which appeared both designer and dry cleaners only and indicated that he was on his way out.

“Good morning Gavin,” Sam retorted politely with a smile. “We're here on business actually.”

“Well yes Sam, what else would it be?” Gavin continued to tease as he glanced from him to Josh. “I saw you come in but you haven't moved from the lobby, are you actually lost?”

“No Gavin we're just not sure what's the best route to our destination,” Josh replied brightly as he gave the man a disarming smile.

Josh had no real like or dislike for Gavin. To him Gavin was another preened, Ivy league office suit but Josh knew he wasn't far off that himself, knowing that his crinkled clothes and unruly hair might highlight a sense of rebellion in him and his Jewish background saved him from being classified as a WASP but he was still a Harvard and Yale educated, highly paid, politics player. Josh at least showed some passion in his work but he found Gavin passive, a yes man who preferred to go with the flow than make waves.

Gavin nodded. “So lost,” he said calmly. “Look, I'm on my way out here for a meeting, why don't you get over your pride and know I'm going to mock you both for this for a while anyway so you can't salvage it and just tell me which office you're trying to find,” he suggested.

“The Vice President's,” Sam confessed.

Gavin glanced from Sam to Josh and his smile widened. “You're kidding.”

Josh shoved his hands into his trouser pockets as he gave Gavin a biting smile in answer. “Nope.”

Gavin started laughing. “And you guys continue to insist he's respected by all of you,” he said with a shake of his head, “but you don't even know where he's based.”

“Not true,” Sam interrupted as he raised his finger pointedly, “we know it's in this building.”

Josh groaned. “Sam not helping,” he murmured as he took a step back. He glanced about their surroundings and was relieved to see that no one was watching them.

Gavin gestured to the right with one hand. “Take the stairs to the second floor, follow the corridor, follow on your right, you'll hit our offices first, the Vice President's office is to the right, just past Cal's office. The Secret Service agents ought to be a good clue and yes, he is there at the moment although I'm sure you at least checked that.”

Gavin raised his eyebrows slightly as he gave them a look of scrutiny.

“Of course we did,” Sam answered with just a slight waver to his voice.

Gavin laughed again. “I'm going to save this incident,” he vowed, “and choose my moment wisely. See you idiots later.”

Gavin walked off without waiting for a response.

“Ouch,” Josh retorted dryly as he watched the man go. “And they wonder why we don't consider them friends.”

“He didn't have to give us directions,” Sam pointed out.

Josh gave Sam a serious look. “Who says he did Sam? We could end up in a broom closet.”  
“Well only one way to find out,” Sam said stubbornly.

Sam started walking to the door leading to the stairs.

Josh matched pace with him. They were walking quickly again but this time it was to avoid the possibility of conversation with anyone else. They both wore an expression of calm indifference and avoided eye contact with anyone they passed as they climbed the stairs. They were out of their comfort zone here and they both knew it.

They reached the second level and headed down a corridor with a marble, black and white chessboard floor.

“So why is it my fault?” Sam reverted to their earlier discussion.

“You dated a call girl Sam and then you went and gave her a graduation present and the press caught it all,” Josh reminded him calmly. “More importantly, you haven't called the Chief of Staff's daughter, whom you were technically dating, to explain things.”

The corridor was an icy cold and had Josh sinking his hands back in his pockets as he debated putting his coat back on.

“It was one date, a flirtation really,” Sam retorted, “and Mallory hasn't called me either. I mean we weren't dating, I'm not even sure I know what dating is anymore,” he lamented.

“Sam.”

“Yes?” Sam glanced over at Josh curiously.

“Stop talking.”

“Okay.”

The pair continued their walk in silence and neither knew whether they should be relieved or not to be faced with not a broom cupboard but their counterpart offices in the Eisenhower.

Being a much bigger building than the White House, the Eisenhower all served as the work domain for many of the President's staff, it was just his most needed who occupied the West Wing but here in the central hub of the Eisenhower the Vice President's most closest employees worked close to his domain.

When Josh glanced to the right and saw who occupied the office in there he felt only despair and a fresh rush of annoyance for Sam. Oh sure, Josh had been overheard by Leo mocking the Big Block of Cheese Day to C.J but Sam's offence was far worse. Josh was quite certain he had just gotten caught in the crossfire of Leo trying to find a legal way to punish Sam for his offences to Mallory. Apparently sending them on an errand to the Eisenhower was, in Leo's eyes, a fitting punishment.

Cadence McGarry was seated at her desk surrounded by paperwork. She occupied herself with highlighting passages and copying notes all whilst talking on the phone to someone.

Josh lingered by her closed door staring through the glass with a quiet sense of curiosity. He could see the back of a photo frame on her desk beside her computer screen and wondered if it was the infamous raccoon picture. Charlie had murmured about Zoey meeting it a few nights ago and his concerns that the First Family daughter could be exposed to rabies.

Cadence was evidently busy and judging from the stack of files in her tray and books by her computer she was going to be for a long time. It was how Josh remembered her, never a slacker, Cadence had worked all the hours of the day and more and she was smart and dedicated, if given a task, she would do everything in her power to succeed at it. The problem was the flaws Josh remembered about her too. Her passion worked both ways, once she became dedicated to something that was it, it didn't matter if it was right or wrong, she had no qualms in expressing her feelings on the matter and sticking to her guns.

Cadence glanced up and Josh stumbled back as if her gaze had physically shocked him.

She smiled at his awkward stumble and ended her phone call.

“Sam,” Josh said anxiously as he glanced over his shoulder to him, “we need to go.”

Sam looked at him quizzically.

Josh started to move but he wasn't quick enough, Cadence had already opened her office door.

“Well now, what are you two doing here?” she pried.

She leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms, which pushed back the sleeves of grey jacket to expose the black cuffs of her shirt. Her hair was down behind her shoulders and in smooth, light brown waves with a few blonde highlights, it was a recent dye job although neither man noticed.

“Business,” Sam answered hastily. He felt a rush of unease as well, Cadence was Mallory's sister after all. He wondered if she knew, if she had seen the scandal on the news or if Mallory had mentioned it to her.

“The kind you get for free or the kind you pay for?” Cadence queried sardonically as she fixed a cool stare on him.

“You know,” Sam said flatly.

“That you like buying hookers gifts?” Cadence quipped. She nodded. “I know.”

Cadence hadn't seen Mallory since her dinner with her, Zoe and Gina five days ago. The news of Sam's recent liaison with the call girl had broken three days ago and Cadence had received a multitude of angry phone calls from Mallory about it ever since. She had also been flat out at work ever since but Mallory didn't think that was a valid excuse for Cadence cutting their calls short.

“She's a call girl,” Sam retorted defensively.

Cadence gave him a stony stare. “Has that distinction mattered to anyone else?” she pried.

“No,” Sam retorted as he reached up a finger to adjust his glasses, “but it should.”

“Not really.” Cadence turned her stare onto Josh, cocking her head to the left slightly and causing her black and silver striped tie to crease with the movement. “So what are you two doing over here? Did you get demoted?”

Josh gave a purposefully put on laugh at this. “Oh ha ha,” he said sarcastically, “aren't we allowed to visit?”

“Only during the designated visiting hours, isn't that how prison usually works?” Cadence answered with a beaming smile.

“Prison?” Sam echoed. “I thought you were happy here.” Catching her wilting stare his expression turned bashful. “Oh,” he said with a wave of his hand, “this is one of those things were you can say it as a joke but we can't?”

“And Mal said you had brains,” Cadence growled out, “of course the very public stint with the not a prostitute has already disproved that.”

“You know Mallory and I only had one date that wasn't really a date,” Sam argued defensively. He winced seeing the glower he got and held up his hands defensively.

Josh bowed his head and pressed a hand to his brow as he quietly cursed Sam out in his head.

“I'm just saying,” Sam continued, “the terms weren't clear and I wasn't seeing Laurie, not in that way. Well I was,” he said awkwardly, “in the beginning but I told Mallory that, I mean it was a graduation gift from a friend for a friend.”

Cadence turned a puzzled stare on Josh. “Is this making sense to you?”

“No,” Josh admitted with a shrug and a smile. “Look, we're actually here to see Ho-the Vice President.”

“Did you just refer to him as a ho?” Cadence was quick to hone in on Josh's slip of the tongue. She narrowed her gaze and regarded Josh and Sam with a equal measure of feigned disgust. “Do you pair maybe need some kind of therapy? Seems like you both have an interest in working women of a certain variety.”

Josh gestured outwards with one hand in an energetic protest. “That is not what I said! I didn't sound the vowel out like that, the y was almost present! I just nearly said your boss' name that's all, I didn't say ho!”

Several of the admin workers who were bustling too and fro in the corridor they occupied, paused to glance over at Josh's excited yelling.

“And there it is again” Cadence remarked breezily. “Honestly, I think I'm going to have to query this, it's not a healthy interest for White House staff.”

“It's not what I said!” Josh continued to protest, waving his hand with each word as he did.

“Josh I think she knows,” Sam said quietly.

Cadence smiled again. “Yeah, I think I do. Sam,” she added in a more serious tone, “I actually don't care who you sleep with, I'm not in a position to judge that, I only care if you want to date my sister. If you do, then call her.”

“See she hasn't called me,” Sam protested.

“She doesn't have to, she wasn't seen on newspapers with a not a prostitute,” Cadence reprimanded him. She let her arms drop by her side and stepped away from the doorway at last. “I'm only giving you advice, call her, go for drinks, she'll give you a chance to explain.”

“Not alone,” Sam protested anxiously, “I mean, she'll be mad, she might yell. Would you come?”

“Sam what are you doing?” Josh snapped.

Cadence's eyes widened in surprise. “Is this, this whole we should be friends thing again? Sam, I'm not a pathway to my sister.”

Sam gave her an objecting look. “No but come on,” he switched to pleading as he gestured outwards with one hand, “it would be easier for me if there's a group of us, more casual, not a date, then if Mallory doesn't want to date it's not as awful.”

“Or it's a hundred times worse because you have witnesses to it,” Josh muttered.

“Look, call her,” Cadence repeated, “and if she wants that she can let me know. Now, you shouldn't keep the Vice President waiting much longer, he has a meeting with the Vice President of Colombia today.”

“We know,” Josh murmured wearily as he pushed a hand through his messy curls, “that's why we're here.”

“Oh?” Cadence looked at them curiously.

“The President has an idea of what should be discussed at this meeting in light of recent events,” Sam explained, “and the Chief of Staff asked if we would pass along the message with some suggested speeches.”

“Sure Sam, tell her everything,” Josh complained as he glanced at his friend scornfully.

Josh just wanted to get their punishment over with because it was, as far as he was concerned, most definitely a punishment. He didn't like standing here in this corridor thinking of what might have been and could have been. One twist of fate and he and Cal Mathis could have been reversed, just as Josh had started on Hoynes' team, Cal had started on President Bartlet's too before being fired by Leo for Toby.

“Oh dear,” Cadence mused quietly with a spark of amusement in her eyes, “is the Chief of Staff perhaps punishing you for this non-date with the non-prostitute?”

“No,” Sam retorted unconvincingly, “I am the Deputy of Communications, I wrote the speech and these are two Vice Presidents we are dealing with, this is important.”

“Uh huh.” Cadence's probing stormy gaze was back on Josh. “And what wrong did you do?”

“It was guilt by association I'm fairly sure,” Josh grumbled with little concern. He glanced at his watch. “Look, we really need to get going.”

“He made fun of the Big Block of Cheese Day,” Sam blurted out.

“Sam,” Josh scorned as he turned his head skywards in despair. He lowered it to glower over at his companion again. “What is with you today? Didn't you learn from the headlines that gossiping is bad?”

“I'm not gossiping,” Sam protested. He gestured to Cadence with one hand as he faced Josh. “She is Leo's daughter, she will probably learn all this anyway and it's hardly secretive information.”

“Big Block of Cheese Day?” Cadence repeated with a confused stare. “I don't...what's that?”

“Don't ask or better yet,” Josh added with a smile, “ask your father. It's been fun Cadence, as always, see you later. Sam, we need to go.”

“Right.” Sam gave Cadence an apologetic smile. “It was nice to see where you work.”

“Well you didn't really see the office,” Cadence pointed out.

“No, maybe next time. Hey, are you meant to be dressed like a raccoon, it's just the colours and the tie,” he remarked as he pointed to her striped tie.

“Sam!” Josh called sharply. He had already started walking off.

Sam gave the now smiling Cadence an awkward smile before he hurried off after Josh.

Josh was bracing himself for their next challenge here. He considered dryly that it was almost like a castle invasion, they had dealt with the jester in the lobby, then the witch in the dungeons and now the self-styled king was waiting to be reminded that he was actually only a prince or count, hell Josh didn't really know the accurate medieval term for that one. The irony was thinking that feudal systems were dead and democracy had prevailed when really all they had done was change the titles and made public domination legal with a voting system.

Josh glanced back in Cadence's direction at his last thought, it was a little too close to what her thesis had made murmurings about. He almost shuddered as he decided being near her was having a bad effect on him.

Josh and Sam found the Vice President's office with ease. As Gavin had advised it was easily spotted by the two Secret Service agents standing outside. The shouting coming from within was another indication.

John Hoynes was, overall, a relatively calm man. When the President shouted he usually balked to it, sure he had his moments of protest but usually he just accepted that he couldn't shout over the President and instead he submitted to a sulky quietness. John wasn't a passive person but he did lack aggression and was, in Josh's opinion, a moderate middling man afraid to show a strong opinion on key points where he felt he might lose support for daring to have an opinion. However, as Josh knew first hand, when John really lost his temper he wasn't afraid to express a certain sharpness to his tone. It was extremely rare however for him to raise his voice, usually he just let his words carry his convictions but sometimes, like most humans, he just snapped.

“You will sort this Cal because it is important and I'm telling you to do it damn it!” John's voice rang out.

Josh hesitated at the door, reluctant to interrupt and hopeful he might overhear more.

“Sir, it's fluff, it will go away and even if it doesn't, she's only been here a few weeks and as what, a deputy of PR? We could lean on the fact that her father obviously got her the post, I mean her capability is questionable, she has googly eyes on her stapler for Christ's sake! So we make it clear we're only doing him a favour in having her-”

“Cal that's enough,” John retorted in a warning tone, “I hired her, do you understand?” His Texan accent was on full. Anytime John lost his temper he lost his Washington strain as well and his natural Texan twang came out in full force. “I hired her,” he repeated firmly. “She is part of this team, you're Chief of my Staff, she's part of my staff, get on it before it becomes a real story.”

“Right sir,” Cal responded reluctantly.

“Also,” John grumbled, “what in the hell does it matter how she decorates her stapler? She got me a good promotional spot regarding foreign policy and polling says I'm up five percent since that, she's doing a damn good job.”

Sam and Josh shared a glance at the mention of polling before they rushed to step away from the door as they heard footsteps approaching it.

The door opened and Cal Mathis stepped out with a scowl. Spying Sam and Josh only worsened the anger in his stare. “And I thought this morning couldn't look worse,” he muttered. “Sam, Josh, what are you pair doing here?”

“Business with the Vice President,” Sam answered hastily.

“I'm his Chief of Staff Sam, I think I deserve more detail than that,” Cal retorted moodily.

Cal had left the door ajar behind him, aware that Sam and Josh were heading that way.

“Just an update from the President's Chief of Staff on the meeting later with the Vice President of Colombia,” Josh murmured.

Cal looked surprised at this. “Are you two being punished?” he queried dubiously.

Sam frowned as he wondered why it was so obvious. “No,” he said defensively, “this is important.”

“But not important enough for me to know the details,” Cal countered crossly.

“Important enough for the Vice President to hear of it first hand,” Josh replied quickly.

Cal continued to frown. “Fine Josh, go deliver your important news,” he murmured moodily. He stepped away from the doorway and headed for his office.

Josh stepped through the ajar doorway and suddenly felt awkward, as if he should have knocked and waited to be summoned. He found it odd that there was no reception point person, no Mrs Landingham equivalent for John.

“Good morning Mr Vice President,” Josh greeted with a forced smile.

John looked annoyed. He was standing in the centre of the room, head bowed as he ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. He lowered his hand and glanced over at Josh and Sam warily. “Is it Josh?” he quipped. “Do we have an appointment?” he added with a look of genuine questioning.

Josh shook his head. “No sir, the Chief of Staff asked us to visit on behalf of the President.”

John turned to face the pair fully with the same dubious look Gavin, Cal and Cadence had given them. “What did you two do to make Leo mad?” he quipped.

“Nothing sir,” Josh answered quickly. He praised himself for resisting the urge to ramble about call girls and cheese and admit to John that yes, visiting him was in fact a punishment.

John looked like he wasn't buying Josh's answer. He waved him and Sam in anyway. “Shut the door then,” he ordered.

Sam obeyed as he followed Josh to stand properly in the room. Neither of them opted for a seat.

“Sir, we're here about your meeting later with the Vice President of Colombia,” Josh explained. “It's just, in light of these allegations that the DEA may have gotten the CIA to combat the cartel in Colombia without really concerning themselves about limiting the CIA or maybe advising them of acceptable collateral damage, well we need to be careful what's discussed.”

“Josh, I'm not an idiot,” John retorted stonily. He folded his arms and frowned over at the Deputy Chief of Staff. “And I resent the implication that I am.”

Josh kept smiling but it was hard, he had expected John to go on the defensive, when it came to orders from the President, John was always on the defensive. “Sir I know that and I'm not implying anything,” he attempted to reason with him. “It's bad timing, we only heard about the CIA's involvement yesterday, we don't know what the press knows yet and you've had this meeting planned for weeks.”

“I guess I'd better drop my plans for discussing Colombian drug deals and cartels then,” John retorted bitingly.

“Sir,” Sam remarked as he stepped forward, “it's not about you raising the conversation it's about Vice President Rojas doing so.”

“And you think I can't handle that?” John queried with a hostile stare at Sam.

“Mr Vice President,” Josh decided to just get to the point, “Leo sent us with an ultimatum, either you use our script or the meeting gets cancelled. We can't be seen meeting with Colombia unprepared until we know what's happening in Colombia, the press will draw the wrong conclusions and right now we can't be certain that the Colombian government isn't involved with the cartel on some level, it's happened before.”

John pointed at Josh angrily as his blue eyes filled with an icy rage. “You tell Leo if he wants to order me he does it in person. He doesn't send his lackeys to reprimand and order me like a schoolboy.”

Josh sighed whilst Sam looked apologetic.

“It's just bad timing sir,” Sam insisted. He reached into his inner jacket pocket for his notes.

“Much like photographers snapping photos of White House staff exchanging goods with call girls,” John sneered. “Is that bad timing Sam?”

Sam frowned as he held out his notes. “Mr Vice President, I'm just the messenger but this is happening,” he said sternly. “We can go through our script now or tell Vice President Rojas the appointment is cancelled, it is your choice.”

Josh glanced from Sam to John nervously. He knew Sam had gone too far, they both did. John's rage was clear on his face and he had started to pace about the office. He paused, placed his right hand in his pocket and raised his left up and out in a gesture to Sam.

“I do not do scripts,” he said flatly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't knock Leo's Big Block of Cheese Day, you deserve punishment if you do. Also, everything in this story is a fictionalised version- fictionalised West Wing, fictionalised Colombia, fictionalised Eisenhower (because Google was limited help), just like the show.  
The characters' views do not represent my own, sometimes I don't even know how I'm writing this my knowledge of American politics is so poor but here we are :-)  
For those who are reading this, I thank you for your time and hope you are enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing it.


	13. Unscripted

“You threatened the Vice President?”

“Leo it was not a threat,” Sam began his protest.

Leo held up a hand warning the Deputy Director of Communications to silence.

“Sam, are you a glutton for punishment today?” Leo quipped as he stared over at the younger man in disbelief. “I sent you there to be out of my way and away from trouble, how did you make things worse?” he queried woefully as he shook his head.

Leo turned his grey stare on Josh who stood behind Sam in a willing silence, hoping not to get noticed by his boss.

They were standing in Leo's office, responding to his immediate summons after their return to the White House. Apparently the moment they had left the Vice President's office he had phoned Leo's.

Josh smiled at his boss apologetically. “We were giving him the speech like you asked,” he explained.

Leo pointed at Josh crossly. “Speech?” he repeated. “John said the word script was used and why weren't you doing the talking Josh?”

“Sam is in Communications,” Josh reminded him. He winced seeing the anger that filled Leo's face and knew, not for the first time today, that he and Sam had gone too far.

“Sam is all over the press for giving a call girl presents, while he is meant to be dating my daughter,” Leo added loudly as he let his anger fill his voice.

Sam raised a hand in protest. “You know technically it wasn't a date,” he began.

“Sam no,” Josh pleaded as he lowered his eyes to the ground and shook his head.

“I don't care!” Leo snapped as he dropped his own hand by his side in a swift, aggressive manner. “Gentlemen I should not need to tell you two,  senior White House staff that you do  not , I repeat,  not go and tell the Vice President that either he follows our script or his meeting is cancelled. You made him feel like a puppet and you made him feel stupid,” Leo added in annoyance, “he told me that!”

“But Leo wasn't the point that you wanted him following our script er speech,” Josh corrected hastily.

“Yes Josh but you shouldn't have been so stupid as to say it so bluntly, you know the Vice President can be difficult when it comes to his authority and ours.” Leo sighed. “I should have handled it personally, this meeting with him and Vice President Rojas is going to be broadcast on a number of important news stations, we don't know what the Vice President of Colombia will say but if the business of the cartels or drugs or our own CIA or DEA come up we need John to say what we want the White House to say. This is a delicate matter and we still don't know what's actually going on.”

Sam looked at Leo defiantly. “Can't we just cancel this meeting?” he queried.

“No Sam,” Leo snapped angrily as he regarded him like he was an idiot, “that would be an insult to Colombia and given that our own CIA might have given their cartel weapons we can't afford to be annoying them further. It was a bluff and John knew it and you didn't deliver it believably at all,” he scolded him.

Josh sighed whilst Sam just looked confused.

“It was a bluff?” Sam queried in surprise. “So the Vice President is meeting with the Vice President of Colombia no matter what?”

Leo nodded at him. “Exactly Sam and now he's going to go in there in a rage at us and say whatever the hell he likes just to spite us, if it suits him,” he grumbled.

“Leo he's not going to sink the whole country's reputation just because Sam upset him,” Josh said calmly.

“Sam and you,” Leo corrected.

Josh gestured to himself with both hands and a look of surprise. “Me? What did I do?”

“You're the one who talked about scripts and ultimatums Josh,” Leo responded.

Josh glanced at Sam. “I thought we ran here, how did he manage to get all that into a phone call so quickly?”

“You're not that fit,” Sam said, “we barely jogged here.

“Fellas, the Vice President will be here in twenty minutes,” Leo addressed them, still stern faced, “then you've got a fifteen minute window before his meeting to fix this. He's already agreed to meet with you two again but Cal and Cadence will be there too.”

“Why is Cadence coming?” Josh queried aloud with a frown. “She's just a PR deputy.”

Leo narrowed his gaze at his subordinate. He remarked sarcastically, “and you don't think good PR would be involved in a meeting with a foreign leader's representative?”

“Yeah but it's more a Toby, Sam thing,” Josh argued as he gestured to Sam with one hand, “or their VP equivalents. I mean he has Sandra for speeches and Jeremy for press.”

“Josh,” Sam piped up.

Josh glanced at his companion in irritation. “What?”

Sam shook his head. “You're digging a hole,” he said quickly, “stop doing it.”

“John has never used Sandra's speeches, she's the third one in that job, he keeps her because the President told him to stop firing his speechwriters,” Leo dismissed Josh's arguing.

“And because she's attractive,” Sam murmured under his breath. He winced at Leo's glare and wished that he could stop voicing his thoughts aloud today.

“I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that because it's sexist and offensive,” Leo said icily, “and because if I focus on one more wrong doing of yours today Sam I'm going to either have an aneurysm or give you one.”

Sam nodded hastily and took a step back. “Point taken,” he said quietly.

“As for Jeremy, we gave him to John,” Leo explained, “because he's nice and passive, he spins okay press for the Vice President, neutral, which is what we want. If he were as good as C.J then the Vice President might surpass the President in notice and we do not want that.”

“Well Cadence got him up five percent!” Josh blurted out. “So you can't want her here then!”

Leo's white eyebrows rose slightly at this before he gave a smile of pride. “Good for her,” he said quietly. His frown returned for Josh. “Josh don't be a telltale no one likes those,” he scorned him.

“Paul Revere was liked,” Josh muttered moodily.

“Both of you, out of my office, prepare to meet the Vice President and make this right,” Leo ordered.

Josh and Sam nodded obediently before departing. The pair attempted to meet with Toby to repolish the script but he was busy in a meeting. Accepting that they were on their own, which perhaps only fitting given they had created the mess, they spent twenty minutes trying to come up with a solution that wouldn't offend Hoynes further. 

Josh grumbled that Leo was at times schizophrenic when it came to the Vice President, he had once threatened to bounce him to celebrity golf showings as punishment for getting too cocky in his role and reminded him that he, the Chief of Staff was the second in command but then he had also sided with him when he hadn't want to break the tie over an ethanol matter despite the President insisting he should. Josh said he didn't get it but that was a lie, deep down he understood because he was the same way with the VP. John could be an asshole who stood in their way but he was good at his job, loyal to the people and plenty of times he did make sensible decisions. In Josh's eyes he didn't have what Bartlet had but he was a damn good choice for Vice President.

When their time was up, Sam and Josh marched like two men for the gallows to the Roosevelt Room where they found the Vice President and his small party waiting for them.

“Good afternoon Mr Vice President,” Sam said politely as they entered the room.

John, who was seated at the head of the lengthy table, held up his hand and waved. “Let's not do this again, we only met about half an hour ago,” he reminded them. His pale blue eyes were still cold with anger.

Cadence was standing staring round the room with intrigue whilst Cal, seated to John's right and opposite the door, looked haggard and couldn't even feign an expression of cordial indifference for Sam and Josh.

“Do you ever wonder what kind of fish President Roosevelt kept in here?” Cadence quipped as she surveyed the paintings. “I mean aquariums makes it sound exciting, Roosevelt Room is alright but the sharks in here just aren't as nice to look at,” she mused as she flashed a smile over at Josh and Sam.

Josh gave a sarcastic smile in response. He hated that she was clearly loving every moment of this.

“Fish?” Sam queried in puzzlement.

Cadence looked at him in surprise before her smile widened. “Mal did say you didn't know anything about this place,” she teased. “FDR had an aquarium here and fish mounted on the walls.”

“We do not have time for this,” Cal interrupted angrily. “We have much more important things to discuss than fish.”

Cadence shrugged nonchalantly. “I'm just trying to put them at ease,” she said, “and start things amicably.”

Josh gave her a look of annoyance at this. He couldn't tell if she was patronising them or genuinely trying to do them a favour, either way he didn't like it.

“Yeah so, can we talk about this meeting with Vice President Rojas?” Josh queried as he approached the desk. He pulled out the seat to John's left.

John looked up at him with a frosty calm. “You can talk about it but don't think to give me any orders about it,” he warned.

Josh nodded briskly even as his expression suggested he figured all was lost. He sat down on the seat and glanced at John awkwardly. His position wasn't lost on him.

“We shouldn't have said script,” Josh admitted. “Look, Mr Vice President,” he leaned back in his seat, “we just need to know what you're going to say if the cartel, drugs, CIA or DEA do come up.”

“I'm going to say that's for the CIA and DEA to discuss,” John retorted frostily.

Josh pressed his hand up into his brow before dropping it to the table. “Okay, humour me for a second please, what if Rojas calls that a copout or asks why the White House don't have anything to say about it or don't know about it? What if he calls you evasive?”

John leaned forward in his seat and fixed his blue stare on Josh, steely and resolute. “Josh this isn't my first show at the rodeo,” he retorted in a quiet, stern voice.

Josh nodded along again. “That's not an answer, sir,” he tacked on the title politely. He could feel Sam standing nearby, itching to blurt out something and he willed the man to stay quiet and let him handle it first.

“Josh this news hasn't even broken officially yet,” Cal reminded him, “we don't know much why do we assume this Vice President knows anything? Maybe the Colombian government are in the dark, or at least in the dark about what we know.”

“And maybe not,” Sam countered sharply, “maybe we should assume they know everything because it's better to be prepared than not.”

Sam was standing just like Cadence. They were on opposing sides of the table maintaining a calm as they watched the tensions build before them.

John flashed an angry stare up at him as Josh pursed his lips into a thin line and clenched his left fist slightly.

“Are you saying I'm unprepared?” John snapped.

Sam realised he had messed up again as he stared down at the Vice President blankly, unsure what to say now.

“Gentlemen the Vice President of Colombia is coming to discuss trade,” Cadence reminded them. “If he tries to exploit this to discuss recent, unconfirmed news then he's simply gossiping and no politician wants to publicly be seen to be doing that. He will just need reminded that we have no news on these matters yet and that it's uncivilised to converse about rumours. Of course the Vice President will say it all a lot more politely than that,” she added with a smile.

Cal and Josh both gave Cadence a look of displeasure but she seemed immune to it as she maintained her smile.

“Even discussing trade is risky,” Sam pointed out, “we don't know how well we will be trading once all this business with cartels and weapons comes out.”

Josh gave a small, triumphant smile at this, appreciating Sam for finding the flaw in Cadence's plan. “Exactly sir,” he said as he nodded at John. “We can't make trade promises we might not keep.”

The Vice President gave him a steely look in response. “Surely the shoe is on the other foot Josh,” he said in a heated tone as his rage began to simmer to the surface. “If our CIA gave their cartel weapons they wouldn't want to trade with us not the other way round.”

John stood up from the table in an angry haste. “In fact we should be making an effort to offer something appealing early so when the shit hits the fan they're going to still want business with us if only from a practical standing point.”

John scowled down the table at them. “This conversation is over people, time's up.”

John headed for the door before any of them could argue with him further.

Sam gave an awkward, anxious smile as he watched him go. “Well that could've gone better,” he said quickly after the Vice President had departed.

Cal, on his feet and hastening after his boss, paused to glance back at them all with a frown. He fixed his glower on Sam. “Some strategy, wind the Vice President up before his meeting,” he scorned them.

Cal followed in the same manner as his boss, abrupt without giving anyone the chance to answer him.

\---

C.J raised her palm to her brow for the third time. “It's like watching a car crash,” she groaned to her hand.

“One with no survivors,” Toby remarked grimly from her right.

C.J lowered her hand and glanced over at Toby with a worried curiosity. “Has the President seen it yet?” she queried.

Toby shook his head. “You and I are the first to watch it, he'll be watching it soon then speaking with Hoynes. This segment is due to broadcast on the five o'clock news.” Toby glanced at his watch and swallowed a curse. “They will be here to collect it soon.”

C.J glanced up at the screen again.

The recording of the meeting between Vice President Hoynes and Vice President Rojas was playing out before them in C.J's office. Toby was beginning to regret not having a snack whilst he watched the show. It was meant to be a simple meeting about trade, recorded for the news as a means of broadcasting the good relations between the U.S and Colombia and because two Vice Presidents conversing privately instead of publicly would only draw ill rumours. The irony was that the ugly murmurings of CIA and DEA business in Colombia had already drawn the rumours.

The Colombian V.P had been angry from the get go. He had made it clear to Hoynes that the Colombian government not only knew about the rumours of the CIA gifting some of their cartels with weapons to combat other cartels, pitting them against each other in the hopes of causing self-destruction amongst them but they did not consider them rumours.

C.J had considered quietly that John had done an admirable job in the beginning of the meeting, he had been calm and attempted to turn the conversation back to trade. It was an admiration she would never voice aloud and it didn't matter much as it had faded fast.

“I don't know if things turned bad when Vice President Rojas suggested Hoynes was keeping secrets or if it was when he changed his mind and decided Hoynes wasn't important enough to know what his country was up to,” C.J remarked calmly.

The way the press secretary figured it, it was just another daily disaster and she was starting to become accustomed to them. At least with this one she was getting to see the tape first and prepare for the press briefing that would follow.

“Definitely the latter,” Toby grumbled.

The White House Communications Director watched in a weary despair as John started to really lose his temper and unleashed his thick Texan twang.

“We can't release this but we can't keep it,” Toby murmured.

“Well thank God it wasn't live,” C.J commented sardonically. She continued to stand stoically watching the meeting continue to flail and burn. “It would have been fine if he'd stuck to the line that V.Ps shouldn't discuss rumours and insisted that as far as we are concerned that's all it is at the moment,” she added. “It's that ego of his,” she added as she glanced at Toby, “Vice President Rojas dealt it a blow implying Hoynes lacked the same importance as him and he took the bait.”

“I always said a televised meeting was a bad idea,” Toby grumbled. “It's just giving into the press, saying here you go we fear your rumours and we want to counter them.” He gestured with his hands as if handing someone an invisible bundle. “It's not a done thing, it wasn't an interview with either of them but we had to televise it anyway.”

“Toby,” C.J interrupted him.

“Yeah?”

“You're rambling and no one but me can hear,” she informed him sweetly.

“Right.”

C.J gave him a gentle smile. “Let's just be grateful it's not our screw up. It's going to get worse anyway once the story about the CIA and the Colombian cartel comes out.”

Toby frowned and headed for the door. “I'm going to speak to Sam and Josh about this, at least we'll be able to edit some of it for time consumption reasons.”

“Don't tamper with it too much or the press will sense we're hiding something,” C.J cautioned him.

\---

If ever John needed a drink it was now. The day had been a clean sweep disaster. First the nonsense with Cal, then Sam and Josh, then Sam and Josh on repeat, then that damnable meeting which both he and his Colombian counterpart had started with tempers flared and then the telling off from the President like he was a school boy.

John scowled at his desk, seething as he recalled his superior's sarcasm. The sardonic wave to the television, the quip of 'now John this is the bit I really don't understand, did you really have to threaten him with the loss of American friendship? Don't you think they're going to toss that anyway when they find out American citizens are friends with their criminals?'

Five o'clock had came and went and with it fresh humiliation as the segment aired on the news.

John had stayed public for it, refusing to be seen as a coward although he had been ordered by the President not to have any further contact with the press today until the President's team got a handle on things. John's scowl deepened at the reminder, the implication had been clear- the Vice President and his party had made a mess and now the superior West Wing staff would be cleaning it up, like teachers tidying up after kindergartens. John hated the feeling of inferiority more than he hated the public taunting he had endured.

He knew the public opinion of his meeting would fade, right now the American people didn't give much of a shit for the Vice President of Colombia, in a few weeks or maybe even just days time that would change but right now they would find the meeting awkward and embarrassing but they would forget it. John wouldn't of course but the people would and he would lose the five percent Cadence had helped him earn and people would nod and say it was as well he was the Vice and not the actual President and he would grit his teeth and smile, holding up sports t-shirts and talking up local teams all while thinking that President Bartlet surely would have botched it too.

Bartlet was no perfectionist, he had lost his temper with the religious radio host after all, sure hearing how he had schooled her over Bible references had been entertaining but it showed that like any human Bartlet was opinionated and capable of letting his temper show in public scoldings. Hell, he'd scorned John in front of many people more than once, which was why they had had to endure Texas together because people were beginning to doubt that Jed had any faith in his Vice.

John glanced up at the clock on the wall. It sat above the door opposite his desk, silent but steady with its ticks. It was bronze framed, some antiquated gift from some dignitary of some country, engraved and probably a token gift for the then token Vice President. Mostly John considered it practical but tonight he considered it another reminder of his useless, there for appearance's sake post. It read ten thirty. John had spent the better part of the evening lingering here after berating his staff for their shared shambles.

John pushed a hand through his dark hair as he thought of how he had sneered at Cadence. Criticised her PR skills after the live news feed since she hadn't offered him any decent PR advice after the meeting. He knew he hadn't been fair to her. He hadn't been fair to any of them, the screw up had been his after all. He figured he was just pissed because by that stage she had made dinner plans with her sister Mallory and Sam and he was annoyed that anyone would be doing something jovial tonight after the disaster.

John looked to the crystal decanter on the wooden cabinet that contained only water at his request. It wouldn't cut it, it never did. He felt too near to the edge this evening and he didn't know what alternate fix he needed. He thought of Suzanne and a sneer came to his lips, all she would do was berate him. He thought of Cadence again and frowned as his hand dropped back down to the desk, he couldn't use her so cheaply and hadn't she been putting in a lot of effort to resist him anyway?

John stood up from his desk knowing he had to leave his office before he went mad.

He paced round to the front of his desk and paused, suddenly mad that he was still here whilst his team were gone for the night, disappeared to give him a wide berth. Part of him appreciated the space they offered him and part of him hated them for it, they were there for the good parts but not the bad. He knew he wasn't being fair again, if they thought he wanted them for solace or a confidence boost then they would be there. Yet John couldn't shake the thought.

John rubbed at his temples and grabbed the phone on his desk. He dialled a number and waited impatiently as it rang.

There was a crackling, the sound of distortion and then a confused hello.

John thought he could hear rain and he was puzzled for a moment. He glanced to the right to the window but the curtains were drawn as they had been since he had entered the room. “Cadence I need you to come back,” he addressed her sternly, ill-pleased with the manner in which she had answered the phone. “You're my deputy of Public Relations but when I need Public Relations you leave for dinner, wasn't it made clear to you this isn't a nine to five job? You work for the office of the Vice President,” he reminded her, “and you represent it.”

John paused, he knew he sounded like an asshole, it was the thin line he always seemed to tread between confidence and cockiness, charm and smugness, pride and vanity. He knew he was just hunting for someone to take his annoyance out on because he was tense, tired and truly fed up and he couldn't have a drink and no one liked him enough to stay in the building patiently waiting out his solitude so they could ask when he finally emerged if he was alright, if he needed anything. Hell he was hurt Cadence hadn't waited on him, that she wasn't concerned enough to ignore his chiding and stay anyway, that she had pissed off to dinner with Sam Seaborn. And there it was, the realisation as to why John had picked Cadence for his angry venting because she was out with the enemy, that smug asshole who had tried to lecture and script him before the disaster and was probably laughing about it with her.

John realised there had only been silence as he mulled over his heated thoughts, well static and rain but no talking. “Cadence?”

“My...my raccoon is dead,” she mumbled back numbly.

John didn't know what the hell to make of that. He wondered where exactly she was. Standing on her street? She'd mentioned some vermin in the alleyway, she'd even shown him a picture of the thing. He glanced at the clock again and listened to the rain on the phone.

“Cadence it's a fucking pest,” he snapped before he hung up the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never fear West Wing fanfiction is here! Yeah Xmas chaos is delaying my updates but even tinsel times will not stop my love for this show and John Hoynes, yeah why do I always pick the secondary characters most people hate? Who knows :-D I swear there's more to this raccoon business but give it time. Although they're awesome enough in themselves, cute little bandits.


	14. The Sniffles

The Vice President was tired and irritable. After his less than successful meeting with his Colombian counterpart he had been unable to sleep. He had tossed and turned until Suzanne's complaints about it had sent him from the bedroom of the Number One Observatory Circle to the spare room. Now he was back in his office, being avoided by the bulk of his staff who knew his mood was unpleasant.

It wasn't until just after ten in the morning that John was interrupted from his moody solitude by two of his staff.

John glanced up from his desk wearily as Gavin Drake entered accompanied by Jeremy Rolston, John's press secretary. Jeremy was young, a dark haired, pleasant people pleaser, he lacked the ruthlessness of his co-workers but John figured or at least hoped it would come in time. Jeremy had been pressed upon him by Leo and, indirectly, Jed, and for that John would never completely warm to the press secretary. It was unfair but that was politics.

“Morning sir,” Gavin greeted politely. His tone was serious and John knew from the lack of the clichéd 'good' that he wasn't bringing him anything enjoyable.

John gave the pair a warning stare.

Gavin was long used to the Vice President's use of his arctic eyes to portray his emotions. It was usually a muted protest when John's counterpart was shouting louder than he could or was willing to. Gavin wasn't quite immune to it but nor was he feeling the freeze from it that Jeremy was.

“Morning Mr Vice President,” Jeremy greeted politely.

Jeremy was standing in an awkward pose, shuffling uneasily on his feet whilst struggling to decide what way to hold his hands. He cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing on.

“The news about the CIA and the DEA in Colombia has just broken,” Jeremy explained. “The President is going to make a statement. Cadence phoned me last night discussing what we should do if it did break. She said your interview yesterday would look more positive if the news did break, that is your stance that they wouldn't have American friendship.”

“They won't want it now,” John grumbled.

John wondered when exactly Cadence had contacted Jeremy, before her dinner, after, before John's phone call to her? He had been wondering about her throughout the night as well, he had rang her to take his anger out on her and he knew it had been petty and cruel.

Jeremy nodded agreeably even as he fidgeted with the ends of his grey jacket.

“Cadence suggested this morning we state your stance was to show that only the minority of the American CIA and DEA were in on this, that we really did know nothing and that you were reminding Colombia of the strength of the majority of the American forces, cautioning them not to act hastily over rumours surrounding a few bad eggs as it were.”

“A few bad eggs,” John mocked with a bitter smile and a shake of his head. “What news has broke this morning? I haven't been informed,” he added coldly with a disapproving glance at Gavin.

Gavin didn't flinch, he crossed his hands behind his back as he faced John down. “I'm informing you now sir,” he explained, “it only happened a few minutes ago, I don't think C.J even got a courtesy warning, the story is too good. The press are stating it's been confirmed, the CIA at the DEA's behest were giving weapons to Colombian cartels, something about using the lesser evil to get rid of the greater evil. Only,” Gavin added with a slight frown, “there is a suggestion that civilians were killed, intentionally Mr Vice President,” he added in a more serious tone, “necessary collateral.”

John looked at Gavin in disbelief. “What in the hell happened down there?” he demanded. “Does anyone know anything about it?”

Jeremy glanced to Gavin desperately, unsure how to respond.

“Not that we know of,” Gavin admitted, “but presumably the head of the CIA should know something. Sir, do you want to follow Cadence's suggestion now that the news has come out?”

John's eyes widened slightly at the reminder of the younger woman. He thought of his phone call to her again and felt a prickle of guilt. He had heard something off in her voice, sure she had been upset about that damn raccoon but there was more to it, some deep, unsettled grief John couldn't quite figure out. He shouldn't have hung up. Hell he should have sent someone to her then. No, he should have gone himself.

John sighed. He wasn't going to be invited to play in the park today, Jed, Leo and their prize team would be all over Colombia, he'd get the invite after when damage control had been done.

“Where is Cadence?” John queried.

Gavin and Jeremy exchanged a glance.

“Gentlemen don't pussy foot,” John commanded, “where is she?”

“In her office,” Gavin retorted calmly.

John stared across at the man trying to figure out what he wasn't saying. “Why didn't she come in here with you?” he demanded.

“She's...under the weather,” Jeremy answered. He was attempting tact and failing miserably.

“Under the weather?” John repeated with an impatient glare.

“Sir she's been sneezing and sniffling all morning,” Gavin explained, “whatever in the hell she's brought in you're best not getting too close to it, her,” he corrected hastily. Gavin exhaled softly as he lost some of his composure.

John shook his head.

“Jeremy,” John ordered as he fixed a stern gaze back on the press secretary, “we'll take our direction from the President's press secretary. Nothing until then.”

Jeremy nodded.

“You can both go now,” John dismissed them.

Jeremy openly looked relieved and was quick to turn and hurry from the room.

Gavin gave his boss a concerned stare but said nothing. He headed after Jeremy at a slower pace.

John cursed as he stared at the now closed door. He knew where he had to go, the same place he shouldn't go. He should be engaging with Cal, trying to get on top of this Colombia mess, hell he should've told Jeremy to get his nose up C.J's ass and get as much intel on what the press knew and didn't know and tell him. They should be working an advantage and getting to work in the background to create some positive spin on John's mess.

John pushed a hand through his dark hair and stepped round his desk. There had been something in Cadence's voice on the phone last night. She had been standing in the rain on the phone sounding lost. How long had she been in the rain for?

John exited his office and nodded to the Secret Service agent standing there. The agent was Tom Sedgewick, head of the Vice President's security detail, he took his orders directly from Ron Butterfield, who was head of the Presidential Detail for the Secret Service.

John started walking towards the offices and Tom followed gamely. He was an almost silent shadow, soft on his steps as he gave the Vice President his space and yet kept him firmly within sight. Tom knew the perfect balance between crowding and protecting and he knew discretion, his goal was to keep the Vice President safe, anything else didn't seem to concern him.

It didn't take long for John to reach the quarters his main staff called their home from home. The problem wasn't distance it was subtlety. Too many of them were here to witness his visit. Now he realised he had been in a selfish sulk when he had assumed they were avoiding him when in fact they were as always at work, busy and still serving him to the best of their abilities.

John greeted individuals quickly as he passed them in the corridor, a nod and and a polite mentioning of their name. He prided himself on getting names right.

John heard the sneezes first. He frowned, they weren't the cute little allergy snorts, they were haggard, phlegm filled exhales of disease. He continued up the corridor, following the sniffs and splutters of someone trying and failing to inhale back snot.

John quickly found himself outside Cadence's office.

The door was closed but apparently it was not thick enough to keep in the sounds of sickness.

John knocked it once, a pointless show of politeness, it was glass and she'd already turned a bleary, red hued gaze up to him.

Cadence stood up hastily and John moved just as quick as he saw the uneasy sway she gave with the movement. Her hands were out and upon her desk to steady herself as John opened the door and hurried into the office.

Tom looked in curiously, satisfied that nothing was amiss he stepped back beside the doorway to grant the pair some privacy.

“I'm okay,” Cadence said as she waved the Vice President back with one hand.

John stared at her with disapproval as he eyeballed the crumpled tissues on her desk pointedly before turning his vibrant blue stare back up to her.

Cadence's cheeks were ruddy, her eyes were shaded with fatigue and slick with sickness, her nose glowed red as it leaked and her stance was weak, her body still doubled over as she gripped her desk with one hand for support.

“Cadence what in the hell are you doing here?” John demanded.

“I work here,” she retorted sardonically.

John couldn't get mad at the sarcasm, it was impossible given the hoarseness of her voice. He wondered if it came from coughing or crying. Her pale grey shirt was untucked and hanging untidily over a black pencil skirt. John wondered at her choice of attire or if there had even been any choice, she needed layers and he couldn't even see a coat hanging up anywhere.

“Cady,” he adopted a kinder tone for her as he closed the door behind him at last, “you're not well.”

“It's a cold that's all,” she murmured, “it'll pass.”

John stepped up to her desk. It was the only barrier between them. He glanced down at it again and saw the picture frame placed firmly down on it.

“Cady what happened with the raccoon?” John was straight to the point.

His electric blue eyes were on her again, prying at the hurt she bore on her face as she struggled with an answer.

She fumbled on the desk for a tissue that hadn't been used as much and inadvertently grasped at one she had attempted to turn into a swan. “Someone ran him down,” she retorted quietly.

Him. John resisted the urge to keep his scorn from his face as she realised she had probably named the thing. John couldn't understand it, how could she get attached to animals that were pests, vermin really?

“He was all alone and in so much pain, he crawled to the sidewalk,” she explained as tears pooled in her eyes, “and he died alone.”

John studied her face, reading the woe on it as he wondered yet again what this was really about.

“Who was he?” John queried quietly. If she gave him the raccoon's name fine but he was hopeful that in her feverish state her guard was down and she would give him the real answer.

“Robbie,” she murmured sorrowfully. The tears finally slipped out to add shimmering streaks to her rosy cheeks.

“Robbie raccoon,” John murmured bitterly with a shake of his head before he could help it.

“Not always,” she protested. Her face screwed up in angry confusion but her eyes were blurred with water and she couldn't focus on him properly. “Robbie Donovan,” she explained.

Cadence's grip on the desk slipped as she suddenly staggered again.

The movement jolted John's thoughts over who Robbie Donovan might be.

Cadence managed to manoeuvre herself down into her chair, tiredly waving off John's advances as he moved round the desk, a fraction too late to offer assistance.

“I'm fine,” she insisted.

“You might not need me to catch you,” John mused, “but you are not fine.”

He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead and his eyes widened at the blazing heat it met with.

“Cady when I called you last night you were standing in the rain, how long were you out in it?” John demanded.

“I don't know,” she mumbled sullenly. She leaned back in her chair with a grimace of pain and sniffed hard to try and keep in an unpleasant trickle of snot.

“He was getting wet,” she murmured, “he was cold and alone in a place he didn't know, I couldn't leave him like that but I didn't know what to do.”

“You're burning up,” John muttered. “I'm going to...” He trailed off.

John glanced about her desk for the phone. He had meant to say he was getting her sent home but he couldn't dismiss her like that, he was too worried. “We're going to take you home,” he decided, “and I'll have a doctor make a house call.”

Cadence grasped his right arm suddenly with one hand. “No John,” she protested with a pleading look, “please. Mr Vice President,” she corrected herself, “I don't...I don't want the attention. I'm sorry about Colombia.”

“Colombia?” John stared down at her in bewilderment. “Cady you'd nothing to do with that, shit, I'm sorry I yelled at you about that, I shouldn't have. You really aren't making much sense, you need a doctor.”

John turned away from her and lifted the receiver from the phone.

“He was so alone and I didn't know, he died alone and it was all my fault,” she lamented.

John winced as several coughs escaped her. He didn't even consider that he might catch it, all he could think about was how he had known she was in the rain and had done nothing about it.

\---

Tom Sedgewick, after giving up verbally protesting the Vice President running a staff member home to a dodgy area, continued to express his displeasure with a sullen stare. He stood outside the door to Cadence McGarry's apartment glancing at his watch as he wondered how long this was going to take.

They had arrived in an unmarked black Chevy Impala, which was one of only two Secret Service cars nearby. There was one SUV across the road and further back was an unmarked police car, which had done a check of the area before they had arrived. The Chevy Impala was directly outside the apartment block. There were also unmarked agents in the area who had spent an hour casing it before Tom had even permitted John to make the trip here. Tom didn't think it was enough and the Vice President thought it was too much.

The Vice President wanted discretion and sure Tom could understand not wanting to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to Cadence's home like a procession of black SUVs with sirens and lights but hell this was the Vice President, a highly recognisable, powerful figure despite what he seemed to be thinking of himself today.

Tom wondered how he had been talked into this and realised grimly that he hadn't really. John Hoynes had done his usual asshole move, smile and charm whilst ordering not asking but because he did it so nicely and quietly it was hard to detect that John wasn't giving a choice in the matter.

Tom had argued back but the Vice President didn't warrant the security detail of the President, he didn't have twelve agents on him at all times, the Vice wasn't so fortunate or unfortunate depending on how one looked at it. The President got lifetime protection, the Vice only had a six months severance after their time in office was done.

Tom had had the apartment block checked over too and radioed to one of the undercover agents in the apartment block for confirmation of security before permitting the VP entry. Tom had been a little dismayed to get the all clear. It had meant he had to let the Vice President into a building he considered unsecure in an area best classified as 'dodgy' and he knew the VP wasn't going to leave in a hurry.

Tom had entered Cadence's apartment first and checked it over thoroughly before allowing the VP to enter. He wasn't happy about having to stay outside it but he had to give privacy if security permitted it, the compromise was that the front door into the apartment remained unlocked.

Cadence avoided eye contact with the Vice President as she moved through her apartment awkwardly, veering towards the kitchenette.

“Should I make you coffee?” she quipped.

John, taking in that the apartment was like an ice block, and moving to a radiator with a critical eye, halted and glanced over at the young woman scornfully.

“No,” he said firmly, “you should sit down because you're sick. Actually layers, put on some layers. Damn Cady, the pipes are stone cold,” he complained as he crouched down and pressed his palm against the radiator pipes, “is your heating not working?”

“No,” she admitted with a careless shrug, “but I...I...ah..” She stuttered as she tried to resist a sneeze and it came exploding out.

Cadence let out a groan of self disgust as she fumbled in her satchel for a fresh tissue to dab at her ruddy nose with.

“I've hot water,” she concluded with a sniff. “Must be a different supply, I don't know.”

John stood upright and raised his eyebrows at this. “Right, so you'll go without central heating but not a hot bath.”

John shook his head even as the smile came, he wanted to be mad with her careless attitude but she had always adored her baths and he was amused that trait hadn't changed.

“Alright,” he said as he waved his palms out at her, “you need to sit.” He looked to the sofa and his blue gaze filled with approval at the swan patterned blanket crumpled up on it. “Get that blanket round you, I'm going to run you a bath.”

“You.” Cadence stared back at him dumbfounded and shook her head. “No, I'm home Mr Vice President, you need to go do Vice Presidential things, please, don't-” A series of coughs interrupted her.

Cadence doubled over as fresh pangs tore up her ribcage with each cough.

“Cadence I can be John as well,” he snapped with a look of annoyance. “Let me be John Hoynes today, no one wants the Vice President today anyway. Sit down and get that blanket around you.”

John headed through the apartment in search of the bathroom. As it was a small apartment and the bathroom door was ajar it was an easy find.

John stepped in and smiled at the modest rubber duck collection. There was the large yellow one he had sent as a house warming gift, the one with the top hat from her suite at the Driskill Hotel and the one with the sash that he had taken from his own suite and given to her. It was yellow with a sash bearing the stars of stripes of the American flag. John adored that Cadence still collected rubber ducks though he wondered what had happened to the rest of her collection. He had noted that the apartment was sparse of personal belongings and decorations, the furnishings were new and had to be from Leo's pocket.

John shrugged off his coal grey jacket though he was reluctant to expose himself to the cold. He folded it neatly over his arm and glanced about the small bathroom again before settling for depositing it on top of the closed toilet seat. He unbuttoned his shirt sleeves, pushed them up to his elbows and set to work running the bath.

Cadence remained in the living room, bleary eyed as she slumped in the couch half under a blanket that still had a faint scent of her family home to it. She was miserable, her head was stuffed up, she ached from head to toe, she was at the point of being past exhaustion and she couldn't think straight. Hell she was starting to wonder if the Vice President running a bath for her was just some delirium induced illusion.

John appeared in her vision after a few minutes. His hair was tousled from the steam of the bath, and his shirt was wrinkled, the sleeves sloppy and uneven at his elbows.

Cadence gave him a faint smile. “You look like John Hoynes,” she informed him cheerfully in a voice weak from coughing.

John wasn't sure what to make of the remark. He nodded, pushed a hand through his hair in an attempt to even it and strode up to her. He saw the sorrow in her reddened eyes and it prompted him to take a seat beside her. She smelled of cold sweat, her hair was matted and her skin an ugly pallor of greyish-white. She was possibly the most unattractive John had seen her and yet he was drawn to her anyway.

Cadence tensed when the Vice President wrapped an arm about her lightly, pressing her blanket against her before he drew her close against him. He was warm and feeling the chill of the apartment had her snuggling into him instinctively.

John didn't say anything, the bath would get cold waiting for a conversation and he didn't know that she would be willing to talk about Robbie Donovan whoever he was or wasn't. He kissed her upon her head and stood up, drawing her up with him.

Cadence accepted it and stood clumsily, trying to bring the blanket up with her.

“You get a bath,” John ordered her, “and hopefully the doc will be here when you're done.”

John released her, allowing her to go on her way.

The doctor came as Cadence was in the midst of drying her hair. She was delayed at the door by a suspicious Tom and then again by her own surprise at seeing the Vice President of all people standing in the apartment. A doctor Jenna Zebrowski, she had flushed slightly at the Vice President's small, welcoming smile and nodded agreeably to his polite request for discretion.

Cadence had been a reluctant patient, grumbling about a fuss over nothing as she sat in the living room and allowed Dr Zebrowski to examine her.

John headed back to the bathroom during this time to give them some privacy and to make a call with his cellular phone. There was an answer after the fourth ring.

“Hello,” Leo's gruff voice called. There was a shuffling of footsteps and the hurried closing of a door with it.

John gave a biting smile at the tone. “Leo it's John,” he murmured quietly.

“I know John, this is a personal number,” Leo grumbled back, “why are you calling? You've seen the news surely you know I'm busy.”

“Cadence is sick,” John got straight to the point since Leo obviously didn't want pleasantries. “She came to work with a fever, I think it's a bad cold, maybe the flu. Anyway Leo, she was burning up so I had her taken home and I've got a doctor making a house call.”

John knew what he was risking with his call and his timing. He had to make sure he was gone before Leo or anyone else had a chance to call round and he had to hope the doctor did practice discretion. He could claim he just wanted to see his employee safe but it was bullshit, he wouldn't have taken Gavin or Jeremy home, he'd have let an aide do it but with Cadence he had to see it done personally.

“Sick,” Leo repeated numbly. “Right, I'll get in touch with Mal, one of us will get round to her. Thanks John.”

“Sure Leo. Leo one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“She was upset about a raccoon near her place getting run over,” John heard the curse Leo muttered but he continued on, “and she mentioned a name, I thought it was the raccoon's name to be honest but then she said a surname too. Who's Robbie Donovan Leo?”

John heard the sharp intake of breath before there was a sudden silence.

Leo sighed. “John was she upset? Not just sick?” he pried.

“Yeah Leo,” John admitted. John rubbed at his hair awkwardly. Much as he sympathised he wasn't going to admit that he knew Cadence had been standing in the rain probably for half the night upset over this raccoon or Robbie or both. “Leo, what's going on? Is this a person or a raccoon? What am I missing?”

“John it's very personal,” Leo retorted sharply.

“Yeah well she's my employee Leo and you know I care about her welfare, when it affects her like this I should know.”

John thought to himself that he should know what to say to her, how to comfort her but he didn't.

“He was her boyfriend John, back in high school. He was from New Hampshire, they met through the President's daughter Ellie but he had an uncle in Chicago so he was able to visit her there sometimes. He's the one who started this raccoon thing, he liked them, had a family of them at his home. He...” Leo faltered over the confession. “He died or rather he was stabbed. It happened in Chicago, he was going to surprise Cady for prom, she had no idea, hell I didn't either, he arranged it with Mal. Anyway, he was at an ATM and then as he was leaving it he got attacked by someone who stabbed him and robbed him. It was in the early evening but it was raining heavy so there weren't a lot of people about so it was a few hours before anyone even seemed to notice him but by then he'd bled out and then of course the police couldn't ID him without a wallet.”

Leo let out another angry sigh. “I remember Cady standing in her prom dress, confused and annoyed because she had no date and Mal wouldn't tell her what was going on then it got later and later. I'll never forget it John," he murmured in a voice thick with emotion, "thinking how beautiful my little girl looked but also thinking to myself all the time that something was wrong. I had a drink to steady my nerves, told myself I was just suffering the angst of a parent seeing their daughter looking all grown up and then I had another drink.

Mal knew something was up, she told me, so I rang some cop friends I had. By then Mal had to tell Cady. I remember her reaction, she was so afraid of what was going on, what might have happened. She didn't go to prom, she stayed up waiting for the call. It was around one in the morning when I got it, a call about the homicide, they asked me to describe Robbie and then I knew.”

John didn't know what to say. He thought of when he had met Cadence, young, plucky but that darkness about her that sometimes overcame the happiness. She had never mentioned Robbie and he wondered again about her scars and if that was the past that was too painful and raw for her to share, the reason for her self harm.

“She told you about those reporters trying to get this story about her self-harming and her suicide attempt,” Leo lamented, “well that's it John, that's why. She blamed herself, he was in the city to surprise her for prom so she felt it was all her fault and no one could convince her otherwise. I didn't see it, I should have but I didn't. She slashed her wrists up, she wanted to bleed out like he did, share his pain and join him wherever he was but thankfully Mal found her, she stopped the bleeding and got the paramedics.”

John was numb at Leo's words. Cadence had never mentioned a suicide attempt either. He glanced at the bathroom door. She was so near to him but he felt a million miles away. He wondered why he'd never pressed her for details and realised grimly it was because he had other things to deal with and she wasn't his wife, she was his intern fuck, a twenty-something woman to bolster his ego. He felt anger for himself for not prying harder into her past and for letting her run off after another disaster to inflict fresh harms on herself.

“John she's my little girl and I can't have the press dragging this up again.”

“No Leo I understand,” John came back to reality at Leo's words. “Look she's alright, there was none of that, just sniffles and coughs and she seemed a little sad but not to that extreme.”

“But she mentioned his name to you.”

“She's got a fever Leo, she didn't really know what she was saying. I told you, I got a doctor to make a house call, she'll be alright.”

“Yeah, thanks again John. I'll speak with Mal. Look,” he added quietly, “I'll speak with the President as well about you and him showing a united front with this Colombia business, a public one.”

John cracked another bitter smile. He knew it was wrong to feel pleased at this, that it was unintentionally exploiting Cadence, earning a reward from her father for helping her and hell it certainly wasn't why he'd done it but John knew he needed the good press. A public appearance with the President would make his meeting with the Colombian VP look a little less embarrassing.

“Sure Leo, I'll let you go now.”

“Bye John, Mr Vice President,” Leo opted for formality at last.

“Bye Leo.”

John hung the phone and prepared to go back to Cadence and the doctor. He knew he couldn't mention Robbie Donovan to her, he didn't have time for it and he didn't want her to know he'd talked with her father about it. He'd have to just let her know quickly that he had told Leo she was sick and then he'd have to go before Leo or Mallory pounced upon him here.

John wondered himself as he stepped out of the bathroom how he, the Vice President of one of the strongest nations in the world, was in a position where he had found the time to take a sick employee home and run a bath for her. He shook his head with wonderment at the bizarre situation. It felt inappropriate and he hated that, mainly because he hadn't even gotten inappropriate, there had been no sexual encounter with Cadence this time and so long as she was a sniffling, quivering mess of disease there wasn't going to be. He knew how suspicious it would be if he suddenly started sneezing and spluttering around the place.

John smiled at that thought. A Vice President undone by an affair exposed by a case of the sniffles. Well it would certainly trump the embarrassment of his botched meeting with the VP of Colombia.


	15. Chaos Dawns

No one liked the two am call. For one thing it was at two in the morning but for another much more important thing it was never for anything good. It took three rings before Leo McGarry was disturbed from his sleep by the two am call. As the Chief of Staff roused himself from what hadn't been a pleasant slumber anyway, he glimpsed the green glow of his digital clock which alerted him to the time and the fact that this call could not be good.

“Chief of Staff Leo McGarry answering,” he greeted in a serious tone as he snatched up the receiver and sat upright.

Leo could hear rain and felt a mild annoyance at the realisation that nature had shaped his dreams. In his sleep he had been standing in the rain looking at two broken bodies, star crossed lovers soaked in blood swirling in puddles- Cadence and Robbie. It had been five years since Robbie Donovan's murder but Leo could still see the body as if it were yesterday. He had gone to the mortuary for identification. Of course he wasn't meant to view the body, the police had a photograph, they were satisfied just to show him that but he hadn't been satisfied, he had to see the body first before he alerted the family. It had been denial and desperation, he had wanted it to be a mistake, for Cadence he had wanted it all to be a terrible misunderstanding.

“Morning sir,” Charlie's neutral, polite voice greeted him. “I'm sorry for the wake up sir but it's important.”

“What's happened Charlie?” Leo demanded.

“Sir there are four undercover CIA agents trapped in Colombia. The Colombians know they're there and in light of recent events the President of Colombia has labelled them spies and drug pedlars. Fitzwallace says it's going to be a race against time between us and the Colombians to get the agents.”

Leo sighed as he swung his legs round the bed. He wondered but didn't voice it if maybe the President of Colombia had a point. Were these part of the corrupt crew who had helped the cartels in the hopes that they would destroy each other? The whole thing was a tangled mess and the CIA and DEA heads were stonewalling on it, Leo knew it would be ages before they even got part of the truth on the matter.

“I'm on my way Charlie, wake Josh and Toby,” Leo retorted with a cool calm.

He was relieved, it wasn't exactly Defcon One, no one had declared war, yet. He hurried to get washed and dressed as he wondered what decision the President would make. Jed was still in a fury with the CIA and the DEA for the mess they had caused and he had no desire to be associated with it. It was why he had, reluctantly, agreed with Leo's suggestion of posing with his Vice and reaffirming his words that it was a minority of bad agents that had sullied America's reputation and that America remained a strong and loyal ally and not one to be tossed aside over rumours. Jed had also, away from the cameras, spoken to the President of Colombia over the phone and reminded him lightly that Colombia had its share of people committing criminal activity on American soil too.

As Leo dressed his thoughts returned to Cadence. He wondered how she was and hoped she was sleeping peacefully despite the rain. When he had discovered she had no working heat he had hit the roof. Cadence hadn't had the energy to calm him so she had called Mallory instead.

Cadence was now staying at Mallory's, as a house guest or prisoner it wasn't quite clear, she was bound there until she was well, that was both Mallory and Leo's insistence even though the heating was now sorted. A few angry words to the landlord and some idle threats and Leo had gotten that problem rectified almost immediately and then scolded Cadence for not asking for his help sooner.

Cadence had offered a half-hearted complaint that the landlord would remember her now and mumbled about standing on her own two feet but Leo had countered that by pointing out that she couldn't stand right now and everyone should accept help now and then.

It wasn't long before Leo found himself standing in the Oval Office facing a weary looking Jed.

“Leo how is it I'm being screwed by my own people?” Jed, tired and fed up, abandoned politeness for bluntness.

“I don't know sir,” Leo admitted. “We've been looking into it since the rumours started but the CIA and DEA are stonewalling us at every turn.”

Jed glanced at Leo with a cocked head and dark eyes burning with rage. “But they want our help now,” he remarked sardonically, “to rescue some agents who may or may not have been involved in this mess. Agents who may have intentionally,” Jed almost roared out the word as he gestured downwards pointedly with one finger, “brought about the deaths of innocent civilians in Colombia!”

Leo nodded calmly. “It's a no win situation sir, if we are seen to be doing nothing the American people will view as a betrayal of our men, irregardless of their potential crimes, and they will face a different kind of justice there than they would here. The fact is sir, they are innocent until proven guilty and we don't leave any soldiers behind, even the ones who have done dubious deeds.”

“Dubious deeds,” Jed sneered at the phrase. “Alright Leo, time to meet Fitzwallace then and get it done, quickly.”

The door knocked and opened inwards hastily. It was Charlie.

“Mr President,” Charlie addressed his boss quietly with a serious stare, “Admiral Fitzwallace is in the Situation Room now.”

Jed nodded with a solemn look. “We'll meet him now Charlie,” he retorted.

Jed and Leo followed Charlie out of the room and headed for the Situation Room with the familiar escort of Secret Service agents. They moved as a regiment, men marching to potential war.

It was a destination Jed despised. There was never a call to be in the Situation Room for anything good and he had found himself heading there entirely too many times for his liking. How many near disasters had there been in his short term? How many actual disasters? How many lives were spared and ended as the result of conversations in there? Words could be so powerful, deadly even.

Jed cooled his temper as he prepared to enter the room. A word spoken in anger could mean a life. He could not be the President who cost lives based on personal feelings. In this room he had to always be the President and never the man, it was always professional and never personal.

Jed stepped in and the military personnel rose to their feet instinctively. Jed waved them down to their seats again accordingly. He appreciated the show of respect but when it was from men with greater military experience than he had or could ever hope to have then he had to admit, if only internally, that they were his betters really.

Jed and Leo took their seats and let Admiral Fitzwallace carry out his briefing.

Admiral Percy Fitzwallace acted as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who sat in the room looking solemn. He was a serious man, always honest and always clear with his opinions even when they clashed with the President's.

“Mr President, the CIA have informed us of four undercover agents in Colombia,” Admiral Fitzwallace informed him as he stared across the table to him directly. “They are on the outskirts of Cali, too far south for a border crossing into Panama. The Colombians know they are there, they haven't got their exact location but they are getting close.”

“So what are you proposing?” Jed queried.

“An aerial rescue sir,” this retort came from the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. He looked unhappy about it.

“How risky is that?” Jed demanded. He wondered if the Air Force Chief was unhappy for the same reasons he was because there was that niggling feeling that these agents didn't deserve soldiers' lives to be at risk for their own. “The Colombians will see us in their air space and consider it an act of hostility surely.”

“We can send one helicopter,” Fitzwallace explained, “along the coast. They're too far south for a border crossing but if they can head west they can get to the coast for a lift.”

“Why not a naval rescue then?” Jed asked.

Fitzwallace shook his head. “That would take more time and draw suspicions faster. One small chopper is all we can afford to risk, it can't look military sir or it looks like war.”

“Alright, has anyone gotten in contact with these agents to inform them of this plan?” Jed demanded.

Fitzwallace nodded. “We have radio contact but it's brief, it could be traced.”

“Why have the CIA allowed us contact?” Jed queried with a hint of a sneer.

“Because they need the military's help,” Leo answered quietly. He sat at the President's right hand, calm and stoic as he usually was until he felt his opinion needed to be heard.

Jed nodded sombrely and stood up. “Alright gentlemen get it done but Leo I want the CIA Director in here immediately. These are his men and this is his mess. They cannot create this kind of a fallout and expect us to clean it up without giving us answers and an explanation!”

Leo stood up as well. “Yes sir, I'll get him on the phone now.”

The President led the way out with Leo close on his heels. He paused momentarily in the corridor and glanced back to Leo with a warmer expression.

“Now that we have the unpleasant business of war temporarily out of the way, how's Cady?” Jed quipped.

Leo was only a little surprised by Jed's casual dismissal of something so major as war. It was Jed's way of coping with major situations, by making light of them, only in private of course to those who would never misinterpret or deliberately portray his sense of humour as callousness.

“Well Mal had to lock her study to stop her trying to do work,” Leo admitted.

Jed raised his eyebrows slightly at this. “She was trying to do work?”

Leo nodded. “With a fever over a hundred and the doctor saying if her fluid levels don't increase she needs to go a drip but she's trying to get on Mal's computer to do work because she's been forbidden access to her own laptop.”

Leo sighed. He hadn't told Jed much about Cadence's sickness, a flu was all he had said, no mention of Robbie Donovan.

Jed looked impressed and he nodded. “She's wasted on John, wasted,” he lamented. “We should've hired her Leo.”

Leo attempted a faint smile and failed, his mind was still on Robbie.

“Leo what is it?” Jed pried. “Are you worried she'll get worse?”

Leo shook his head quickly. “No sir, something else but it can wait.”

Jed considered pushing the issue but he knew he would only be doing it for the distraction. He nodded and pointed at Leo sternly. “Alright but I won't forget,” he vowed.

Leo gave the smile this time. “Yes sir, I'll go make that call now.”

\---

“It's four a.m,” Josh lamented as he pushed his hands through his messy curls.

At two a.m he had been fast asleep, at half two confused and still half-dreaming as he took Charlie's call. By three a.m he had been wide awake, hyper at the thought of war and churning out potential speeches and press releases with Sam and Toby whilst complaining that C.J wasn't suffering loss of sleep. Now it was four a.m and nothing had really happened since three and he was slowly down from the monotony.

Toby, grumpy even without the lack of sleep, was ready to go mad as he waited for something to happen. He was trying to take advantage of the brief moment of peace to get their ducks in a row for every potential outcome but Josh kept ruining it.

“Riveting Josh, truly,” Toby snapped sardonically as he glared across the room at him. Toby clapped his hands together and resumed pacing about the room as he had been for the past ten minutes. “Maybe you can read the calendar next and tell us the date!”

“Well now it's technically the twenty-third and a Tuesday,” Josh retorted as he stared back at Toby with bright eyes that were starting to redden from fatigue.

Sam, quiet on the couch in the office they lingered in, raised a finger to make a point. “There's no technically Josh,” he said as he glanced up at his friend, “it is actually Tuesday.”

Toby gave a dramatic groan. “Would you two quit, we have much more important things to consider that the time and the date and the day! That's why we're here damn it!”

Josh gave Toby a calm stare that bore a twinkle of mocking to it. “Toby what can we do? We've analysed all the information we have, we need to wait until the President finishes talking to Director Wolfe,” he alluded to the CIA director.

“If ever there was a good name for someone,” Sam murmured sardonically. “Think of the jokes the press will make with that,” he added pointedly.

“They've already made a few,” Josh reminded him. He gave a small grin as he started waving his hand up and down. “There was a good one yesterday with a sketch of Colombia as a pig and the Big Bad Wolf blowing down things with bombs.”

“Josh,” Toby scorned him with a withering look to match his tone. “Really? You want to give credit to our press mocking the Colombians by depicting them as a pig? As if we aren't in enough bother with them?”

Josh gave Toby a defensive look. “Come on now Toby, it's not like we knew about the CIA, you know Hoynes might have inadvertently helped us by looking ignorant in that interview,” he murmured.

“Vice President Hoynes,” Sam corrected him quietly as he lounged back in the couch slightly.

His dark blue stare fell on the cluttered coffee table in front of him. He found a certain irony in the fact that it had, for once, been used for purpose and was littered with polystyrene cups of half-drunk coffee. It was the cheap, thick kind, the only sort one could feasibly get in the twilight hours before dawn without trekking far for it or forking out too much for it. Sam, as the last arrival, had brought it in with him. Sure there was the closed canteen downstairs which staff could access even without catering staff to make up a hot beverage or snatch something from the fridge but since Sam had been passing a stall on his way he had opted for the fresher option, even if it was cheap and a little bitter.

Josh shot Sam a childish glance of irritation, which was missed by the Deputy Communications Director.

Their impatient desire for information continued for another hour. During that time there were a couple of brief phone calls exchanged between Toby and Charlie, and Josh and Leo. Josh also moved the conversation towards Sam's love life out of simple boredom.

“So Sam,” he mused, “since we have nothing better to talk about right now, which is mind boggling given the country could well be announcing a war in a matter of hours, tell us, how are you and Mallory? Did you patch things up on your date with her and the devil?”

“The devil?” Toby repeated with a look of puzzlement.

Sam, whose cheeks had turned a faint pink, pushed his glasses up and glanced over at Toby. “He means Cady,” he said. “She brought Zoey as a date, who brought Gina for protection and they all ganged up on me,” he murmured with a pensive look.

Josh's eyes widened at this and a gleeful smile emerged on his face. “So how did that turn out?”

“Apparently I have to apologise, with gestures,” Sam retorted as he glanced at the floor and continued to blush, “showy, grand gestures was mentioned. I was given films to watch for example by Zoey. Cady suggested some movie called Rascal but Mal said it was about a raccoon and not to watch it.”

“It is and it's not romantic,” Toby retorted, “but romantic movies are trash, don't give into trash Sam.”

“Says the single-” Josh hesitated as Toby gave him yet another glower.

“You're single too Josh,” Toby said sharply.

“So no advice from either of you,” Sam murmured.

“Don't associate with call girls still stands,” Toby scorned him.

The phone rang from the desk behind Toby and he turned and quickly snatched it up. “Hello.”

“It's Leo Toby,” Leo said sombrely. “We've made contact in Colombia, it looks like we have a chance at getting them out cleanly, we'll know soon.”

“Alright.”

“You, Sam and Josh come to my office,” he ordered, “we won't be doing a press release until it's done and even then we might not.”

“Right Leo, we're on our way.”

The phone clicked off and Toby hung it up. He looked at Josh and Sam with a serious stare. “Leo wants us in his office,” he explained.

Josh stared past Toby to the light of dawn seeping in through the cracks in the blinds. It was red. He pointed towards it. “Isn't there a saying about that? Red sky in the morning...”

Toby glanced over his shoulder to it. “Shepherd's warning,” he concluded grimly.


	16. A Sick Scandal

Leo couldn't remember the last time he had been so eager for a drink. Sure, the need lurked in the background on a daily basis, he was an alcoholic, it was a craving he kept at bay but it never fully vanished. Yet he didn't know when it had last felt so strong, perhaps during the campaign when he had sampled that Scotch.

Leo looked at his hands and realised they were trembling. Ordinarily he might have reached for the phone, called the Vice President up and asked about the next 'card game' but right now he didn't know if he could control himself if he spoke to the Vice President.

There was a knock on his door and he glanced up at it sharply.

“Not now!” he snapped.

Leo didn't care who was out there, they could wait, right now everyone could wait.

The most prominent woman in his life lately, his assistant Margaret opened the door. Her stance was fierce but her face bore unease.“Leo the President wants you in his office,” she informed him quietly.

Leo, who was giving her a look of outrage, attempted to mollify his stare as he nodded. He kept nodding as he stood up from his desk and cast another look down at the newspaper on his desk. He pushed a finger against the grainy image there and sighed.

He was back in the position of his work life versus his personal life. He had lost Jenny over it and soon his privacy had followed as his past with drugs and alcohol was outed. The wounds were still raw but he had weathered them, knowing this would be the most important thing he would ever do. Now here was another clash of those two lives and he didn't know to do.

The heading of the newspaper article was simple and cruel- 'Murder and Madness', a subheading offered 'The Dark Secrets of the Chief of Staff's Daughter'. The wording had made Leo suspicious as to the origin of the story and when he had read it he was certain he knew who had leaked Cadence's personal woes.

Leo headed out of his office and through to the Oval Office. Mrs. Landingham didn't offer small talk, just a look of sympathy.

Leo didn't know what he had meant to say when he stepped into the office. He supposed he was going to play down the issue but when he saw the President's empathetic, worried blue stare it all came tumbling out.

“It was Hoynes,” Leo made the accusation with a snarl. “I told him sir. Cady mentioned Robbie's name to him when she was feverish and he asked me about him and I told him!” Leo shook his head angrily. “I mean who else could know? Who else benefits?”

“Well we do,” Jed answered quietly, “we do Leo.”

Leo tensed and frowned at his superior at his response. It was true but it was an ugly truth and Leo didn't have to like it.

The CIA agents had been rescued from Colombia three days ago but no statement had been released about it, in fact no one was meant to know about it publicly. The press were hungry for a story they knew was being kept from them and had kept churning out new articles and interviews surrounding the disastrous meeting between Vice President Hoynes and the Vice President of Colombia and the confirmation of CIA funded weapons in Colombia.

Just when they needed a distraction, this morning the news had broke. The tragic tale of Robbie Donovan, a young man who had gone to Chicago to surprise Cadence McGarry for prom only to get murdered before he could. The reporters had left nothing out, writing out it had led to Cadence making a suicide attempt, being sent away to a mental health facility for treatment that had been covered up, a decision Leo knew would come to haunt him and how it had started a downward spiral for her.

There had been speculation of hereditary problems, recalls to Leo's own problems and to her vanishing act after her scandalous thesis. One reporter suggested that in itself was a cover up, pondering if she had actually had another mental breakdown and been secreted to another mental health facility.

It was by no means the front headline this morning but the news was slow, the reporters were hungry and the gossip was being devoured and spread like wildfire.

Jed raised his pale brown eyebrows slightly. “Leo is this what was bothering you the other day when I asked if you thought Cady would get worse? Was it because she had mentioned Robbie?”

Leo sighed and gave a sombre nod. “Yes sir.”

Leo's grey eyes searched the room and fell on the decanter at the back of it. He was still thirsty and desperate for a calm he couldn't summon in himself.

Jed gestured to a chair. “Sit Leo,” he ordered calmly.

Leo obeyed, feeling a sudden sense of exhaustion in himself he hadn't been aware of. “She didn't mention Robbie to me,” he explained. “She had some raccoon living in her alleyway,” he paused and glanced up at Jed, giving him a pained smile, “remember how Robbie loved them?”

Jed nodded. “Vermin,” he mused, “he had a family of them around his house, kept leaving left cat food out for them.”

Leo nodded too. “Well Cady made a pet out of this one but it got run over,” he grimaced slightly, “one night in the rain. She caught her flu after but she went to work because she's stubborn and she mentioned his name to  him .”

Leo gave Jed an angry look. “I want him fired for this,” he said seriously.

Jed gave him a calm, disarming stare in answer. He remained standing, just opposite Leo's seat, feeling he might sag with fatigue if he sat. Jed had considered the CIA the worst of his problems until C.J had informed him of this morning's main topic in the news.

“Le you're the one who told me I can't fire him,” he reminded him. “Anyway, you need proof. The press were sniffing around Cady, we knew that already, you warned one reporter off, not them all, someone else could've dug up this information.”

Leo frowned and shook his head. “Not this,” he insisted, “not without help. It was never publicised that Robbie was there to surprise her for prom, his parents and I agreed that information was best kept private for Cady's sake. She went through hell, the guilt consumed her, it nearly took her from me Jed.”

Jed's eyes widened slightly. It was very rare that Leo called him by his name, even on a personal level he still felt the need to say 'sir'. Jed appreciated and despised it simultaneously, it was a reminder that his job was not nine to five but was full-time, all the time. Even when he left the building he was still the President, everywhere he went he was working whether he was on down time or not because the calls could come at any time- threats of war, economy crashes, home-grown terrorists, none of them were good enough to keep their hours sociable or their appointments separate.

“But I told Hoynes,” Leo lamented bitterly as he bowed his head to his lap and clenched his fists slightly, “I told him. Now all this crap with the CIA and Colombia has just been swept away, his screw up on television forgotten, and we've gotten time to get our story straight. We've gotten the perfect distraction from those four agents and I know he's behind it, I know it!” Leo snapped as he turned a glower back up to the President.

“Leo we'll look into it,” Jed promised. “I love your girls like my own and I'll make sure we'll find out who leaked this story. C.J is going to talk to Danny, she says he didn't write anything about it.”

Leo stood up from the chair with an expression of woe. “They had a whole article about her mental instability, all these rumours about where she went to after Hoynes' campaign, all these accusations and a picture of Robbie, and a story about her being driven by guilt to try and kill herself.”

“Leo have you talked to her yet?” Jed pried with a serious stare.

Leo shook his head. “She won't take my calls, Mal's going round to her apartment now to see her.”

Leo and Jed turned suddenly as they heard Charlie protesting to someone that the President was engaged.

There were a few raised voices before the door opened and Charlie looked in apologetically. “Mr President I'm sorry-” he began.

Charlie didn't get to finish his sentence as the Vice President pushed past him to storm into the room.

John kept walking, marching up to Leo, his pale blue stare full of anger and his right hand raised, ready to point in accusation. It was unclear what his intent was as he never got a chance to express it.

Leo simply saw red. He forgot the role of Chief of Staff. He forgot that he was facing the Vice President. He forgot everything except being an outraged father.

Leo moved towards John, ready to meet him, his hands clenched into his fists, ready for what he didn't know for sure but damn it he was ready.

Jed moved quickly, putting himself between the two without warning so they were both forced to halt unexpectedly, leaving the three men dangerously close to each other.

Charlie lingered in the doorway, feeling the electric charge of tension in the air and knowing that a fight was on its way. He didn't dare leave the President in such a situation and yet he didn't know what to do because he was dealing with the President's Chief of Staff and the Vice President and they shouldn't be considered threats. They were the three most important men in the country and meant to be on the same side and yet right now they looked like enemies on edge just waiting for an excuse to strike one another down.

Jed fixed a tight smile up at John. “Good morning John,” he greeted him sardonically, “I assume you have a reason for ignoring protocol and barging in here but you're entirely too close, I don't need to smell your aftershave.”

John bristled at the mockery before backing off a couple of steps. He continued to wear a look of rage but bafflement was slipping into his expression as he glanced past Jed to Leo.

“Sir the news,” John began as his gaze returned to Jed.

“You made the news!” Leo snapped angrily as he stepped by Jed to glare over at the man. “I trusted you John and you sold her out as a distraction! You told the press!”

John's blue stare filled with shock and his mouth parted slightly in an O. He drew himself upright and pointed back at Leo in protest. “Now wait a God damn minute!” he snapped as his vibrant blue gaze filled with anger again. “I didn't leak this!”

“No else knew about the prom plan John,” Leo informed him hotly, “that wasn't in the press when Robbie was murdered. I told you that in confidence and a few days later the story is smeared all over the papers, convenient when we needed a distraction from the Colombia debacle!”

“Hey we needed, not just me!” John snarled. “And I would never,  never betray her trust or yours like this! I came here to ask what you were doing about it! To demand you get those press lackeys of yours to apologise!” John pointed down at the Oval Office carpet. “It benefits this office more than mine, your leak is here!”

Leo glared at him in a fury. “We are the only two here who knew about it, are you accusing us? Do you think I sold my own daughter down the river for a temporary distraction?” he snapped.

Leo felt his hands trembling again as he stared John down. He felt an eagerness to punch the man and it was such a strong urge it terrified him. He needed that drink now more than ever.

“Leo I've watched her work hard to win my staff over, to rise above her past and excel in my team, I would never want to undo that,” John insisted.

“Gentlemen this is getting us nowhere,” Jed interrupted them loudly as he stood sideways between them so he could frown from one to another with ease. “We will have no more accusations until the leak is found. Until then, we are on the same side and the press might have been distracted from this business with the Colombians and the CIA but it has not gone away. Our four lucky agents will be coming from Langley to visit ourselves this afternoon with Director Wolfe and I am determined we get the truth of this mess from them.”

Jed glanced from John to Leo impatiently when neither spoke.

“I'm waiting for a yes Mr. President,” Jed informed them sharply.

“Yes Mr President,” John sounded it out first in a sullen, quiet voice.

“Yes Mr President,” Leo was calmer, knowing Jed was right.

“John, have you spoke to Cady yet?” Jed pried.

John shook his head. “I came straight here,” he admitted. “She's still off sick although...”

“Although what?” Leo demanded.

“She's been having Gavin send her notes,” John confessed. He looked both proud and apologetic at the same time. “I told him to stop initially but she's persistent, said she's going crazy in her house resting.”

“That talk you gave yesterday about balancing foreign policy aid and aid at home was good,” Jed admitted reluctantly with a slight frown. “Although,” he added with a curious look, “I did mean to ask about the sheep.”

John looked a little bashful at the remark as he smiled. “She's still got a fever sir, Gavin worked on tweaking it but he thought she meant sheep, he says she kept talking about them. Turns out her sister told her to count sheep to try and get some sleep, she was babbling about that, said she started naming them instead of counting them,” he added as his smile widened. “She meant shops, more home supplied shops not sheep,” he explained.

Jed gave a brief chuckle and nodded. “I see.”

Leo didn't know what was transpiring. He listened to the conversation, angry simply for its existence as he wanted Jed to be yelling at John not attempting civil conversation with him but then he started to pay attention to the topic and felt a hint of pride for Cadence.

“Well it got you eight points didn't it?” Jed remarked with a touch of sharpness to his tone.

John turned sombre at the tone wondering why in the hell the President couldn't give him a break or consider a victory for him to be a victory for both of them. He nodded. “Yes, it did.”

“Good for the sheep,” Jed grumbled. “Look, one of you two get in touch with Cadence,” he ordered, “that really is the important thing to be done and I want an update on her welfare.”

“I'll ring Mal now,” Leo retorted.

\---

Gina looked around the apartment warily. It was a security risk but to her the entire neighbourhood was a security risk. If Tom Sedgewick had told her he had allowed the Vice President to come here she never would have believed it. There was also the germ risk to consider. The apartment's owner sat with a cluster of used and unused tissues before her, many turned into animals, some more identifiable than others.

Gina hadn't wanted to come, she had tried to talk her charge out of it but Zoey Bartlet could be stubborn and she had seen red with today's news and was adamant that she was seeing Cadence.

Gina had felt a sliver of alarm that Zoey had reached out to Mallory first and arranged to visit with her. Mallory was after all the Chief of Staff's daughter too. So now Gina had three ladies who would make profitable targets for many unscrupulous people under her watchful eye and all contained in an area that she was unfamiliar with and considered unsecure.

Cadence, the reluctant cause of all the trouble, was huddled up on her living room couch beneath her swan blanket with a raccoon teddy and two crumpled tissues in her lap. Her laptop was on the coffee table before her between two half-drained cups, a box of medication, her phone, and the origami tissues. She was attempting to type her resignation and getting interrupted by her own sneezes and her sister's scorns.

Mallory was sitting on a single chair, leaning forward as she berated her sister for her overreaction.

“Cadence you don't need to resign!” she snapped. “You've done nothing wrong!”

“They said the Chief of Staff's daughter,” Cadence retorted hotly, “they are trying to create more scandal for dad.”

The woman's eyes were bloodshot, she insisted it was simply from tiredness but Mallory and Zoey knew she had been crying.

The apartment was still cold, the heat was working but the radiators were old and simply didn't offer much heat. There was a smell of sickness in the air that had Gina recoiling, Zoey full of sympathy and Mallory considering calling up some cleaning professionals to disinfect the entire place.

“Why didn't you stay with me?” Mallory demanded. “You're clearly still not well.”

“This is my home,” Cadence replied stubbornly, “and I'm not going to see your career muddied as well.”

Mallory sighed and waved her right hand in the air carelessly. “You're being dramatic now,” she scolded her. “I don't care what the press write, we survived what they said about dad. Cady cat,” she adapted a more sympathetic tone, “what they have done is cruel but it's not a scandal, you had every right to be the way you were, you were devastated and who could blame you?”

Zoey, who was standing by the old fireplace pointedly staring at three Get Well cards, glanced over to Cadence briefly. She frowned as she saw her friend turn white and slouch in her seat with a look of grief.

Zoey remembered Robbie well, he had been friends with her sister Ellie and the same age as Ellie. Robbie had been a popular fixture in the Bartlet house even before he had met Cadence.

Zoey had always been fond of him although she had found him a tad eccentric. When he and Cadence had met Zoey had been confused at the shy giggles between them and the sullenness it had caused in Ellie for a while. They had been a happy trio initially but then something had changed and Ellie had gotten mad and suddenly Robbie wasn't around the Bartlet household so much anymore and he was spending more time with his uncle in Chicago.

Zoey understood it all now, she had only been twelve when he had been killed, and just ten when the flirtations had started. Ellie had had feelings for Robbie but he had only considered her a friend, with Cadence he had been starstruck and she with him.

“I think about him every day Mal,” Cadence said softly, “he died alone, scared and helpless and in so much pain in a place he didn't know.”

Cadence's eyes burned with tears again. “He was there for me and I had no idea, he shouldn't have been there.”

Mallory rose from her chair and hurried to her sister's side. She sat beside her and pulled her close, not caring if she risked germs.

“Cady cat don't blame yourself,” Mallory begged. “He wanted to be there. Those people who killed him are the ones who shouldn't have been there.”

Zoey turned away as she felt her own eyes bud with tears. She couldn't stand the sadness, especially not from Cadence. She had come to console her friend but realised she had no idea how to do that. She looked to the cards again. One with a picture of a cartoon dog looking ill was signed from a Gavin and Jeremy, one with a hopeful looking cat was from herself and the third, with a raccoon with exaggerated baggy eyes and holding an ice pack was blank.

Zoey was naturally curious about the third card. She had attempted to find one with a raccoon but they weren't exactly popular animals for Get Well cards. She wondered where this one had come from and how someone could care enough to find a raccoon one for Cadence but not enough to sign the card.

Cadence shrugged off her sister and pushed her sweat matted hair back from her face. “I'm alright,” she insisted.

Mallory looked cross again. “You're not and I want you back with me until you are alright,” she insisted.

Cadence cracked a bitter smile at this. “You're using your teacher voice,” she complained.

Mallory continued to look cross as she folded her arms. “Cadence you're sick, you need fluids and care and company.”

“I'm over the worst of it,” Cadence argued. “I need work and normality.” She frowned and turned her stare to her laptop.  
“Rethinking your resignation?” Mallory queried lightly. “So you should, you're good at your job, don't throw it away over this nonsense. This story will be replaced by something else soon Cadence and then they'll forget.”

Cadence shook her head. “Until the next thing, first the thesis, now this, obsessions over whether I'm mentally fit or not for my job then dangerous questions about whether it's hereditary, that's the problem Mal, when they start asking if dad is mentally fit for his job.”  
Mallory shook her head angrily. “Let dad deal with that,” she insisted, “you know he can.”

“It's bad for my boss too,” Cadence lamented, “all this drama.”

“Well he's used to that,” Mallory mused. “Come on Cady you work for the White House, drama is half the job.”  
Cadence shook her head again and fumbled with a few strands of hair. “It can't be mine, not again. They don't deserve to be dragged down with my shit.”

Cadence leaned forward and hit the send button.

Mallory sighed. “The irony is you're being dramatic right now,” she scolded.

Zoey smiled at this. She stepped away from the fireplace at last and walked over to the pair.

Cadence turned an awkward, faint smile up to her. “B.B you shouldn't be here,” she said quietly. “Not that I don't appreciate it and the soup you brought but it's no fun for you.”

Gina wondered at the nickname. Zoey had to explain it was short for Baby Bartlet, a nickname she pretended to detest and yet she had smiled when telling Gina about it. Gina thought B.B was just like Zoey's codename- bookbag- and was wary of someone somehow guessing it from her nickname despite how unlikely that was.

Zoey raised her hands to her hips and gave Cadence a scornful stare to rival Mallory's.

“Cady we're family, I care about you,” she insisted.

Cadence's smile warmed. “I appreciate it, I do but you're risking catching the flu and you're a teenager, you should be having fun.”

Zoey could feel Gina staring at her and knew the agent was eager to leave but she had no desire to. She had missed Cadence for so long and she was eager for more catch ups and nights out with her and Mallory. Their time together brought back fond memories and a much needed feeling of normality.

“Can I take this seat?” Zoey queried as she gestured to the seat Mallory had occupied.

Mallory nodded.

Zoey took it and smiled at the pair. “Why don't we talk about something else?” she suggested.

“Like what?” Mallory queried, welcome for a topic change.

Zoey's smile turned mischievous. “Boys,” she said. “What about you and Sam? I thought he was going to run from that dinner when we told him he had to make a grand gesture.” She giggled.

Mallory dipped her head slightly as she smiled at the reminder. She had wanted to stay mad with Sam but his fumbling, awkward nature was endearing and he had seemed so sincerely apologetic about everything.

“Well we still have to arrange another date,” she murmured.

“So you're willing to date him again?” Zoey quipped.

Mallory turned her smile up to Zoey. “One more chance,” she said sternly. “What about you and Charlie? I hear that's turning serious.”

Zoey looked embarrassed as she turned her head away to study a wall. “I don't know,” she mused, “maybe, I don't know, it's too soon.”

Zoey waved off the idea as she looked at Cadence with a smile. Her smile died away as she suddenly realised the insensitivity of the topic. “Cady I...”

“I'm not dating anyone yet,” Cadence said, “but I've had some offers for coffee.”

“Oh, from who?” Mallory queried with a sudden interest.

Cadence and Mallory's mobiles started ringing simultaneously causing the women to jump before they giggled.

Gina tensed but tried to keep the frown from her face.

Mallory answered first.

“Mallory thank God, well are you with her? Is she okay?” Leo's concerned voice called.

Mallory glanced over at her sister who had plucked up her phone from the table with reluctance. “I'm here now dad,” she assured, “and she's okay, honest.”

Leo sighed with relief. “Are you sure?” he demanded.

Mallory nodded though he couldn't see. “Yeah dad, I mean you know she's upset and angry, I'm angry about it but she's coping.”

Cadence answered her phone. “Hello.”

She was surprised by the Texan drawl that answered.

“Cadence I am not accepting a resignation from you,” the Vice President informed her heatedly, “especially not one that says and I quote, 'I've made a donkey out of things.' Would you get that doctor to make another house call, you obviously still have a fever.”

“Damn I knew I should have proof read that,” Cadence murmured wearily as she clapped her free hand to her sweaty brow. “Oh well, donkey or not I have to quit.”

“No, damn it don't start with this.”

“Mr Vice President you have me in the role of Public Relations, this is not good Public Relations, this is the opposite,” Cadence snapped.

Mallory and Zoey both looked at her with intrigue at the words 'Vice President'.

“Just a sec dad,” Mallory addressed her father, “her boss is on the phone with her.”

“Her boss? You mean the Vice President?” Leo pried, somehow knowing it wasn't Gavin or Cal.

“Uh huh, apparently the resignation she e-mailed him had the word donkey in it,” Mallory mused.

“Resignation?!” Leo spluttered.

“Calm down dad, I think he's rejected it.”

“Your suggestion to show a balance between foreign aid and home aid got me eight points, even with the sheep,” John informed her. “Even when you're sick you do a good job.”

Cadence sighed and bowed her head. She found herself studying the raccoon teddy in her lap and weaved her hand into its fake fur.

“This is bad press,” she insisted, “you don't need it, and the White House doesn't need it,” she insisted. “They'll just keep digging and it gets worse then. You don't need them thinking I'm mentally unstable for my job and that you probably just hired me because of who my dad is.”

“Cadence cut the crap. I get that you are cranky from being sick and mad at the press and upset, and you have every right to be but you can't go into this self-hating spiral,” John scolded her. “We had this conversation when you mentioned the press sniffing around, I said then that I wasn't taking your resignation and I meant it.”

Cadence squeezed the raccoon lightly. “Well you should,” she said moodily.

“Well I won't,” he answered, his voice heated and his tone final. “Now, did you get my get well gift?” He switched the topic purposefully.

“Yes,” she retorted quietly.

“Good, you let him keep you company for a couple of days, this is gonna blow over anyway, there will be another story and then yours is old news. I want you back as soon as you are well enough.”

“When it all blows over?” she quipped.

“Cadence,” he said sternly, “when you're well regardless of what the topic of news is. This is politics, we all take our turn at being the story.”


	17. Dancing the Blues

The problem with trying to distract someone suffering depression was that it could only delay the inevitable for so long. There were quick fixes with varying outcomes. Drinking was a band-aid that led to a worse infection when it peeled off and exposed a depression poisoned with alcohol. Jovial activities with friends just made the silence of solitude all the more pronounced. Sometimes the best thing for depression was to let it work its course on someone but sometimes that was very the worst thing too as it led to unspeakable acts by a vulnerable being whose loneliness gave their darkest thoughts a chance to take control. It was difficult to know when to give someone space and when to crowd them with comfort and hold them tight with round the clock company until you were certain they were safe in their solitude.

Company, music, drink and dancing were the combined distractions for Cadence McGarry tonight. Impressed upon her chiefly by her sister Mallory and their family friend Zoey, they were aided in their effort by Sam Seaborne, Charlie Young, a reluctant Josh Lyman, an intrigued C.J Cregg who had always complained about being left out from nights out, and Gavin Drake who claimed to Josh to 'come in peace'. Gina Toscano had come as well as part of Zoey's detail.

The news about the tragedy of Cadence and Robbie Donovan had broken four days ago, news about Colombia and the CIA had followed in its wake but there was no solid story there yet and so the press continued to punish the White House for its secrecies by continuing to make a story of the McGarry family's mental health problems. They were never the cover story or anything more than a sneering article on the inside covers or an additional line on the news programmes at the end of the main rundown but it was enough to keep the story fresh.

There was also another nasty tale lurking in the shadows of the papers- the rumour of threats to Zoey and Charlie. It was another headline for the journalists to grab hold of as they waited impatiently for the truth surrounding the CIA.

The reason the CIA had yet to make the news was because despite all promises the President had still to meet with the now sought after four agents. The planned meeting had been cancelled abruptly due to the supposed decline of a wounded member. President Bartlet was in a fury and ready to throw them to the wolves for the blatant avoidance of him and, as he termed it to Leo, their 'dirty tricks to buy time'.

It was the wolf analogy that got to Josh and Sam. Toby had murmured about 'wolves at the door' in reference to the press and the President too had, in a roundabout way, termed the press wolves when discussing throwing the CIA operatives to them.

The President had issues the ultimatum to CIA Director Wolfe just four hours ago, either the four agents and Wolfe presented themselves to the President in twenty-four hours or he announced their betrayal to the press.

Josh hoped it was a bluff because if not he wondered if people would truly believe that it was renegade agents who had operated in Colombia and had armed drug pushers. It was madness. How could the agents have ever believed that the cartels would destroy each other? How could they think the innocent causalities were a necessary sacrifice? The Colombian President wanted justice and who could blame him?

In public they were acting like everything was fine but in the background they were struggling.

Josh reached for his beer and took a grateful sip. He was glad for the distraction. It was their first break, a brief pause in the chaos, the eye of the storm as it were. Leo had permitted it only because there was nothing they could do for twenty-four hours and, though he would never admit it, because the night out was for Cadence's benefit.

Josh knew what they were considering depending on what the agents said. The Vice President of Colombia, to their misfortune, got on very well with the President of Colombia, it was a friendship unlike Hoynes and Bartlet's relationship. Vice President Rojas had bent his superior's ear and late in the afternoon his suggestion had come to them.

They wanted Vice President Hoynes down to Colombia to apologise in person for the CIA's actions. Jed was considering the offer whilst everyone was under strict orders not to let Hoynes find out out until the President had made his decision on the matter.

“Oh Cady there's our song! They're finally playing it!” Zoey squealed with delight.

Josh glanced up at the cry and gave a small smile. Zoey's youthful joy was always contagious. Josh glanced from her to Charlie, who was seated to her right, protective and loving, and he felt fresh prickle of anger. Why couldn't they be allowed to enjoy their young romance? Why did people who didn't even know them have to threaten violence because of it? It was a twisted kind of unreasonable hate that Josh would never come to understand.

Zoey stood up from her chair hastily and hurried to Cadence. “Come on Cady Cat up now!” she ordered. “I requested this especially for us!”

Zoey's green eyes searched the tables for Mallory.

Mallory was sitting beside a flustered but delighted Sam, engaging him in a playful, political argument about education.

“Mal it's our song!” Zoey called.

Mallory glanced up in surprise and gave a wide smile as she heard the lyrics. She turned her stare to Sam with a hint of apology in it. “Sorry Sam, family tradition,” she explained as she stood.

Sam didn't mind, Mallory's smile was beautiful, he wasn't going to dim it with an objection.

Josh watched as the three women hurried to the dance floor. Neil Diamond's 'Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon' was playing. He smiled as he thought of how it applied to Zoey in many ways. He realised with a sense of bitterness that one could argue it was how those still faceless but very much threatening voices who spoke of targeting Zoey and Charlie viewed Charlie. The lyrics 'he's not your kind' sent a thrill of revulsion through Josh.

Josh took another sip of his beer as he sat back in his chair and attempted to relax. He glanced to Charlie and saw that the young man only had eyes for Zoey.

Josh's dark stare resumed viewing the dance floor. The three women were magnetic, drawing all eyes to them as they linked arms and swung about wildly with giggles. They twirled and Mallory and Zoey sent the colourful skirts of their dresses up in a flurry as they sung along to the lyrics with enthusiastic glee. Cadence surprised some of their audience as her voice hit each note beautifully.

Josh realised grimly that the lyrics were just as apt for her. 'The boy's no good' caused a stirring of a memory in him that he didn't want. It was one that had come to him often since the press had unearthed some of Cadence's past for public viewing. He wondered if they were going chronologically, would they discuss her shameful thesis next, then her sudden departure from the Hoynes' campaign, not so long after Josh's betrayal, and then those mysterious two years of isolation that Cadence was unwilling to explain to anyone?

“You know Sam you really should close your mouth before a fly gets in,” C.J teased.

Sam flinched and broke his stare from the women to give C.J a protesting look. He raised his hand and gestured to the trio. “I was just admiring the dancing,” he said innocently.

C.J let out a loud laugh. “Sure Sam.”

The press secretary glanced around their surroundings with an impressed expression. Mallory had been the one to pick the place, it was called The Copperpot and was the bar of Hotel D.C Rose, an upmarket hotel with an appropriately stylish but expensive bar to match. It did at least promise a suitable clientele and offered up a security team and CCTV that seemed observant enough to offer Gina some ease.

The music was a mixture of decades with a DJ in a booth by the dance floor. C.J had been surprised to see the DJ, expecting some form of classical music through speakers or live entertainment. A piano in the corner suggested there might be some of that on other nights.

For one moment C.J felt they could just be themselves and not their job titles. For her it was a novelty to be dressed up for a sociable affair and not a work one. She knew it wouldn't last, hell she'd glanced at her watch and saw nine thirty and figured they were overdue the expected interruption.

Watching the women dance made C.J a little envious as she thought of her own girlfriends who she had exactly no time to spend with. Being the White House press secretary meant a serious lack of a social life. Seeing Charlie with Zoey had made her a tad envious too and nostalgic for her old romances. She thought of Danny and wondered how good a dancer he was.

C.J gave a small smile as she considered the scandal of the press secretary out dancing and drinking with the chief White House correspondent. All the other journalists would call foul and favouritism. It would be unfair because much as C.J battled and bantered with them she fiercely guarded and defended them too. She knew all their names and their quirks. She could usually guess who would find trouble with which topic, who would be the pain in the ass with the multiple questions, who would seek sound bites, and who would want essays. She knew people considered her closeness to the White House press pool as a weakness but she never could, it was a strength surely.

The song ended and the women returned to the table.

Gavin awarded them with applause. “Ladies that deserves a drink,” he said as he stood up from the table. “Same again?”

“Well if it's on offer,” Mallory answered with a smile.

Zoey gave him a grateful grin even though Club Soda wasn't exactly full of appeal. Josh had suggested a virgin cocktail but Zoey had pulled a face and told him she found them patronising.

Zoey returned to Charlie but chose to stand behind her seat instead of occupying it.

“We always used to dance to that when we were young,” Zoey informed Charlie as she glanced down at him, the grin still bright on her face.

“Well you were young,” Mallory corrected as she smoothed down her red dress, “I think I was about sixteen.”

“We used to dance in our slippers in our living room,” Zoey said happily, “Liz, Mal, Ellie, Cady and me. That song was my favourite, dad and Leo absolutely hated it,” she informed the group with glee.

Cadence smiled at the memory. She was standing beside Mallory, a little reluctant to return to her seat just yet. The area was warm and starting to get crowded, one moment Cadence felt jovial and energised but in the next she felt trapped and eager for air.

She was trying hard to be happy but it was taking a lot of energy and she starting to feel the fatigue from it.

Cadence reached for her martini glass and gulped down the remainder. It numbed her sense of unease just a little.

Mallory gave her sister a tender stare. Cadence had gone back to work two days ago and was playing the 'everything is fine' game when everyone knew it wasn't. Leo had offered to get a psychiatrist for her and she had snapped at him that it wouldn't help. She was adamant that routine and normality were what would help and refused to discuss it further.

“Remember you sung it on karaoke in that bar,” Mallory mused. She folded her slender arms and grinned. “Dad wasn't impressed you picked that song.”

“Maybe that's why I didn't get first prize,” Cadence retorted.

“You got second,” Mallory reminded her, “but it's always hard to beat the Elvis impersonators.”

“Elvis impersonators?” Gavin quipped as he rejoined them with a tray of drinks in hand.

“Hey Gavin the waiter look suits you,” Sam teased him in a friendly manner.

Gavin, without looking up as he unloaded the tray, retorted quickly, “it beats being a Lost Boy in the Eisenhower Sam.”

“Lost Boy?” Mallory echoed as she glanced to Sam with confusion.

Josh, who had tensed along with Sam, retorted before Sam could embarrass them with honesty. “What was that about Elvis impersonators? Did you get beat by one?” he queried loudly as he looked over at Cadence.

Cadence gave Josh a mocking glance, knowing what he was trying to do. Gavin had told her all about him and Sam getting lost in the Eisenhower trying to find the Vice President of all people. “At karaoke. Say Josh,” she said as she raised her hands to her hips, “you still owe me a song.”

Josh gave an awkward laugh as everyone looked his way.

C.J clasped her hands on the table as she leaned across it to give Josh an enquiring gaze. “Why Joshua I didn't know you could sing,” she remarked tauntingly.

Gavin was grinning. “I remember those karaoke nights in the early stages of the campaign,” he reminisced.

“Sounds like you guys worked hard,” C.J murmured with a hint of taunt to her tone.

Gavin bristled slightly at the jibe and a look of irritation flickered through his eyes.

“We were just trying to lighten up,” he defended, “and it was only in the early stages.”

Josh looked conflicted at the conversation and felt Sam's curious eyes boring into him. Josh looked up to Cadence instead, she was wearing her smile like a shield and he wondered how she was really feeling inside.

“Why do you owe her a song?” Charlie pried as he gave Josh a curious stare.

Josh sighed as he turned to Charlie and frowned at him. “Not owe exactly, we had a bet a few years ago, ancient history.”

“You didn't honour it,” Cadence complained.

“What was the bet?” C.J queried as she looked to Cadence for an explanation.

“He dared me to sing That's Life,” Cadence explained.

“In fairness I didn't know you could actually sing!” Josh protested.

Cadence shrugged as she reached for her new martini and twisted the olive around before taking a sip.

“The bet was if I made it the whole way through the song then Josh would sing one,” Cadence explained as she tugged out the cocktail stick and sucked the olive off.

Gavin watched as her lips crept around the fruit and inhaled it in one mouthful.

Josh watched her too and gave a shudder as he thought of the olive's unpleasant, bitter taste. It made him think of Donna who seemed to like them for some reason and he smiled again. He wished he had invited her now, she was always complaining about missing out on dates and dinners because of him and work.

“So you got cold feet?” Sam queried as he smirked at his friend. “I have to say, from a legal perspective you breeched a verbal contract which is a punishable offence.”

“Can she sue him?” Mallory asked teasingly.

Sam nodded solemnly. “I think I could make a good case for it.”

“Hey you haven't heard her sing!” Josh protested as he gestured to Cadence with one hand. “You know she's like a siren, evil but a good voice.”

“Josh,” C.J scorned him.

Cadence laughed. “It's okay C.J, I'm used to the insults, better a siren than A.A, right Josh?”

“A.A?” Charlie asked. He had his arm about Zoey's shoulders now as she had finally sat beside him.

Zoey leaned against Charlie lightly, her smile now a beam for the entire table to be warmed by. Right now Zoey didn't want to be anywhere else or with anyone else. Her father's team had always been good fun when they had one of those very rare moments to be sociable. C.J could drink at the pace of any of the men, Sam was a lot more chatty when he had a few beers and Josh was Josh, eccentric, talkative, energetic and delightfully entertaining, intended or not.

Gavin snorted as he looked down at his glass. He glanced at Josh out of the corner of his eye. “Anal asshole or argumentative asshole, it just depended on the day,” he retorted.

Sam gave Josh a serious stare and nodded. “Hmm that suits you,” he informed him.

“Sam I don't think you're one to talk,” Josh replied as his smile tautened slightly.

“Always pressing the Vice President to argue,” Gavin recalled wistfully as he lifted his glass. “Ah well,” he lamented, “I guess you won in the end. We called you AWOL asshole after that,” he informed him in a more serious tone.

“So back to the karaoke,” Charlie hastened to change the subject again as he saw the anger flare in Josh's eyes. He pointed to Josh and then to Cadence. “You still owe her a song? Can we get on that?”

“There's no karaoke here,” Josh retorted with a look of relief.

“Not here,” Zoey said, “but elsewhere, right?”

Zoey turned a hopeful gaze on the group, trying hard to ignore Gina's exasperated stare.

“Hmm now there's an idea,” Gavin pounced upon it.

“I know a place,” Mallory admitted.

Josh groaned and pushed both hands into his hair. He started shaking his head. “Nope, nope, nope. Too late, too...dangerous?” He glanced at Gina hopefully.

C.J laughed at the display. “Josh Lyman don't be such a pussy,” she mocked him. “You owe that woman a song,” she insisted as she gestured up to Cadence with one hand, “and I think she's waited long enough!”

C.J snatched up her purse and stood from the table. “Is this place far?”

Mallory shook her head as she reached for her own purse, enthused by C.J. “No, five minutes in a cab.”

“A cab?” Gina echoed. She shook her head. “No, no cab.”

“Aw what a shame,” Josh lamented sardonically.

“Nice try Lyman but we can get secure transport,” C.J said triumphantly. “I'll get on it now.” She headed from the table over to the bar to enquire about using their phone.

“Isn't that an exploitation of resources?” Josh quipped. He glanced from Sam to Gina to Charlie. “Guys help me out here.”

“Ordinarily I'd say it was,” Sam retorted as he stood, “but since it means hearing you sing I'm going to say it's an excellent suggestion and shows C.J cares very much for our personal welfare.”

It was just after ten when the group reached the karaoke bar appropriately named The Silver Song. It wasn't as upscale as the hotel but it wasn't the dirty dive Gina had been expecting either. She had entered first and given it a glance over before reluctantly allowing Zoey entry with the others.

Gina was happy to see Zoey happy especially after the grief she had been getting for her relationship with Charlie. Unfortunately, the scare was real and that made Gina eager for Zoey to return to her college dorm despite her charge's joy.

Gina picked the table, it wasn't her first choice but the place was busy and they were lucky to get a table at all.

Charlie wanted to head soon too. He was tired and he knew they couldn't act like time wasn't passing, it was, quicker than he wanted. He would have to be up in a handful of hours to attend to the President. There was no leeway for hangovers or tiredness. Not that he had drank, he shared sobriety in solidarity with Zoey. It wasn't just so Zoey didn't feel left out but also because he wanted to keep his wits about him because he had all of Gina's fears. He knew from his mother's demise that sometimes all it took was seconds for things to go wrong.

Cadence stood and held out a hand to Josh. “Come on then, let's sign you up.”

Josh eyed the hand warily. “There's no mushed up cookie in that hand, is there?” he pried suspiciously.

Cadence's smile widened. “No Josh, if you decide to sing 'Highway to Hell' we can make a joke about me leading you there.”

Josh smiled despite himself. “I like that,” he admitted. He ignored the hand and stood. “Alright but you need to sing to.”

Josh gestured to the table. “These people need to know what I was up against.”

Cadence shrugged. “Alright, if you really want to follow me.” She turned and walked off without waiting for a response.

Josh continued to smile though he wanted to feel annoyance towards her. He had to admire her confidence.

Josh followed after Cadence, looking for the figure fitting black dress in the crowds. He had wondered, as they all had, if the black was a deliberate choice. Even as she attempted to have fun was she also in mourning? Josh hadn't had a clue about Robbie Donovan and had been surprised when the story broke.

Like everyone else who had known Cadence on the Hoynes' campaign, Josh had struggled to remember what she was like then in the beginning, if there had been any mention of Robbie or any signs that she had suffered such a traumatic loss. Josh didn't think so.

They reached the karaoke station and Cadence was quick to pick her song and sign up. She allowed Josh the honour of picking his own song.

Josh closed his eyes for a moment before picking a song hastily and glancing at Cadence like she had made him sign on for punishment.

“I need a drink for this,” Josh announced.

“Whatever helps,” Cadence murmured.

Josh headed for the bar whilst Cadence waited by the karaoke stand.

The bar was busy and by the time Josh got to it and ordered a drink Cadence was ready to start. Josh smiled when he heard a recognisable bass guitar start. His drink arrived as the singing started and he was able to return to the table to enjoy a good view of Cadence singing 'You're So Vain' with full gusto.

“Hmm that wouldn't be about you, would it?” Gavin queried mockingly.

Gavin was standing, watching with folded arms and an impressed look.

Josh shrugged as he gave Gavin a brief glance before he gulped at his beer. Josh couldn't like Gavin the way Sam did, tonight, even though he acknowledged Gavin was making an effort for Cadence, Josh still considered him a smug asshole. He was dressed in a designer grey suit, wrinkle free with a crispiness and lack of odour to suggest it was new, and a perfect cut to it that made Josh think it was probably worth four or five of his suits.

Josh resumed listening to the song. He figured it probably was a tongue in cheek jibe at him but his thought shifted to Hoynes again- the charming, handsome Vice President with an ego ever needing checked by the West Wing. Josh thought maybe the song could be about him too.

Josh felt a hint of melancholy as he thought of his former boss, the man who tied him, Gavin and Cadence together. John Hoynes had been serious, misguided and unwisely ambitious, figuring he could go into details once he had won the campaign rather than before and yet he had also been outgoing, sociable and at times even fun. John had been the leader of the group but still part of the group and right now, in this very brief moment, Josh actually missed talking to the man.

When Cadence finished her song to the loud applause and whistles of the bar patrons, who had fallen silent upon realising a genuine singer was performing, Josh realised his humiliation was going to be all the worse simply because she had been good.

“Can you sing like that?” Sam asked Mallory.

Mallory threw back her head in laughter before shaking her head. “No, mom signed Cady up for singing lessons and me for piano, I think she wanted children schooled in classical music but she didn't quite get it.”

“Can you play the classics?” Sam queried with intrigue.

“Yes but I don't enjoy it,” Mallory admitted.

Josh finished his drink and readied himself to perform until the blessed sound of his cell phone intruded. Josh tugged it out with relief.

“Josh Lyman,” he answered.

“Josh,” the fatigued and eternally fed up voice of Toby retorted, “time to come back. The CIA responded and the President's going to make an announcement in the morning.”

“Um okay.” Josh rubbed a hand down his face. “We've been drinking you know.”

“I know, lucky you,” Toby retorted sardonically, “but it'll be brief. We'll go through it properly in the morning when you're sober and presumably hungover and deserving of the punishment of a long conversation but we need to make a start now, Leo's orders. He said to bring Sam too, something about ensuring he doesn't stay over at Mallory's.”

Josh laughed before he could help it. “Alright I'll let him know, see you soon Toby.”

Josh hung up the phone and looked at the accusing eyes apologetically. “Sorry guys, you'll have to wait another while for my song, work calls, literally.”

Josh looked to Sam who had been kissing Mallory amorously in the corner. “Sorry Sam the summons are for you too.”

\---

The hour was late but Cadence couldn't sleep. The silence of solitude had started to overwhelm her. Whilst she had had a good time tonight a lot of it had been a show of happiness for Mallory and Zoey and the effort of her pantomime had exhausted her. When Zoey had grasped her in a tight hug at the end of the evening and offered to stay with her and asked if she was okay Cadence had realised she was not okay but she couldn't say it to Zoey, she, Charlie and Gina wanted Zoey safe in her college dorm.

She was standing in her kitchen but she couldn't remember why she had left her bedroom to come here. She glanced down in confusion and realised she was still wearing her dress. Her eyes searched for a clock and she suddenly became aware of the darkness surrounding her. She hadn't turned on the light but she still didn't want to. The dark was a comfort in a way, it kept her thoughts a little more lucid.

The sight of her dress reminded her of the dancing and drinking and she felt a lump build up in her throat. She had thought about Robbie, coming to take her for dancing but it had never happened. It would have been their first formal dance but it was an experience he had died without. It was a trivial thing but it had led Cadence to consider everything else he had missed out on.

Robbie had been a little eccentric but he had also been ambitious, he had always talked about being a fire fighter and in the years Cadence had known him it was a goal that had never changed. He had had his head screwed on but he had died. She got to continue on but she seemed to waste her gift of life on scandal and it sickened her.

Cadence's grey-blue gaze fell upon the knife rack in the shadows and she felt a shudder run through her. She had wanted a moment to be alone with her thoughts but now she wanted anything but as in this instance she despised her own mind.

The sobs came without warning, tearing up through her body to send pained pangs through her ribcage before erupting from her throat accompanied by salty tears that stung the corners of her eyes as they seeped down her cheeks. Cadence couldn't stop them but letting them was giving her no relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I have viewers for this? I don't know, if you are reading this thanks and I hope you're enjoying it :-)
> 
> I'm sure it's full of inaccuracies, I had to google when cell phones were publicly used because I can't recall if they had them on the show, if they don't oh well. I promise the CIA agents aren't just figments, they'll appear for plot reasons.


	18. Time for War

Jed didn't know what to feel as he stared down the five men. He wanted to express rage and until they had entered this room it had been easy to feel the heated emotion of anger but at the moment he was just frustrated, which was not quite the same as anger.

Jed felt that even now the CIA were still calling the shots. This meeting was unofficial, which was something Leo was supportive of as it was for the President's benefit but there was no denying the benefit of the secrecy for the five men before the President. As a result Jed was out of his home territory and worse, he was in John's.

Due to the unofficial status of this meeting and Jed's desire not to see the Oval Office sullied with men who might prove to be traitors, they could not meet in the White House but Jed wasn't going to meet anywhere the CIA suggested and thus be seen to be following their terms. It had put Leo in a bind to try and resolve the situation in a manner that maintained the President's authority but also the desired secrecy and required security. The solution was the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. This way if anyone did get a whiff of the meeting it would appear to be one the Vice President had arranged, meaning John would deal with any fallout that came from it.

Leo felt little guilt for his decision. He knew he was being petty to John- the President, Mallory and Cadence had all told him as much. Cadence was particularly cross when she had learned that not only had Leo told John about Robbie and her suicide attempt without asking her first if he could divulge such a personal story but that he was now blaming John for the leak of it to the press. Leo was still stubbornly adamant that John had to be the leak although even he couldn't really decide on a motive for it. Leo had just grumbled to Jed that John certainly looked good being seen publicly with Cadence visibly close to him, showing his support for her and faith in her.

There were ten of them in total currently occupying the Diplomatic Reception Room of the Eisenhower. The President, who had openly sneered at the name of the room, the Vice President who was not hiding his displeasure at being so openly abused for the CIA/Colombia fallout, the President's Chief of Staff who was unsure what confession he was hoping for from the CIA agents they had helped to liberate from Colombia, two stoic Secret Service agents who were a reminder of the many that lingered throughout the Eisenhower, undercover but probably not subtle enough to throw off the keener eyed members of John's staff, and the five CIA members.

CIA Director Sebastian Wolfe sat between the agents, two on one side and two on the other. He was a man saved from being attractive by the cold emptiness of his blue stare and the ruthlessness he had in his stance that suggested he was not a man readily capable of compassion.

Jed figured in many respects the CIA Director probably had the right traits for his job, much like the military men they met with more frequently than Jed wanted in the Situation Room but Jed had run out of patience with Wolfe days ago and when his patience had went so too had his admiration. He appreciated that people sometimes had to adapt dirty tactics in times of war to keep the peace but the country had not been at war with Colombia and these dirty tricks of a cell of the CIA seemed to be risking war rather than preventing it.

Wolfe's companions were younger than Jed had expected, ranging from their early to late twenties. He didn't believe any of the four had crossed thirty yet. It put him in mind of his daughters Ellie and Elizabeth and he hated the comparison.

The agents had only just sat but it wasn't at Jed's behest. He had given them the solemn nod of permission coupled with a frown but it was only after Wolfe had sat that they had dared to occupy the brown cushioned seats at the long table. It made Jed despise them all just a little more and he had chosen to stay standing.

John, who stood silent behind the President knowing that he was here simply for show, read the situation differently to his boss. John's blue gaze passed over each of the young men in turn and he read the same thing in all of them- fear.

Jed waited impatiently for introductions but they weren't forthcoming. Wolfe was the only one meeting his stare, looking at Jed with a frosty stare that suggested disinterest. He looked at Jed without awe or respect, Jed was the third President he had dealt with and Wolfe obviously just considered him one of many.

“Leo,” Jed called back to his Chief of Staff gruffly, “you would think given I saw to it that these four men were rescued from a situation both dangerous to them and to our country that they might be more forthcoming with their gratitude and their names. Do I not deserve to know the names of those whose lives I have helped to see saved?” he queried sarcastically.

It was some what of a rhetorical question as Jed did know their names. There was no way in hell that the Secret Service would have permitted this meeting otherwise. Jed wanted their names voiced, he wanted them to show him some damn respect by introducing themselves and humbling themselves to him.

The four faces looked in various directions, all with a similar unease. Only one of them eventually glanced up but his gaze was for Leo not Jed. A watery grey gaze peered out from an untidy, dirty fair fringe. The gaze was shaded with dark colours of bruising and minute wrinkles of stress, and the pupils seemed unable to focus on Leo properly. The owner of the uneasy, wounded stare shrugged and sat back in his seat as he gave up on the effort of studying Leo.

All the agents wore suits as did Wolfe, an attempt to appear business like rather than resemble the soldiers they had imitated in Colombia.

“Are they saved sir?” Director Wolfe quipped. His voice was calm and clear, his accent subtle Washington. Sebastian Wolfe had a Germanic name but he had been born and raised in Washington D.C. Given a middle class city education, he had gone to the army, serving in Vietnam as Leo had. He had returned jaded like most men but the fight was still in him and he had channelled it into a career with the Central Investigation Agency.

Jed wondered if the military manner of the man annoyed him too. There were many who didn't support Jed because he was a President without a military background, dependent on his admirals for guidance when the threats from abroad came. Jed simply saw his way as the sensible one, indeed the democratic one, he sought guidance from those with experience and since when could one be an expert in everything? It was foolhardy to lead but not listen. He fixed his gaze back on Wolfe and decided that Wolfe was probably of the opposing opinion.

“I have no more time for this game you are playing,” Jed warned him. “The CIA have been carrying out actions of warfare without sanction in a country we have no quarrel with. They have been weaponising a foreign cartel and have caused acts of violence which have led to civilian causalities. It is an act of betrayal and one which could put the entire country at war. I have been waiting for an explanation but I have not received it and in spite of this I was asked to help extract four agents from Colombia, agents who may or may not have been a part of this.”

Jed pointed down at Wolfe accusingly. “This was done successfully but there was no thanks on your part and you then cancelled a meeting with me, the President of the United States, your leader. It's hard, given all of this, for me to believe that you might know nothing of these actions of treason Director Wolfe,” Jed remarked sternly.

Wolfe's stare remained cold as he continued to sit calm despite the President's accusations.

“Sir,” Wolfe began.

“Mr President,” Jed snapped angrily.

“Are you meeting with us as the President right now?” Wolfe demanded as he stared up at Jed unflinchingly.

“Director Wolfe,” Leo interrupted as he stepped forward to stand beside Jed, “that is enough. You may not be in the White House but you are still addressing the President of the Unites States. This meeting is your final chance to explain yourselves, after this meeting we go to the press, what we announce to them depends on what you tell us here and now.”

The grey eyed agent glanced up again and John glimpsed desperation there before the agent dropped his stare to the table again. He started to tap his fingers on the smooth table.

“One, the jungle weeps, two, the hunters creep, three, the price is steep, four, the secret is hard to keep,” the agent murmured in time to his tapping.

“Shut up Sparks,” the agent beside him, a freckled faced man with slicked back, black hair, ordered angrily. He kept his gaze forward even as he addressed his companion.

Jed was surprised at first but then he felt his anger returning.

“Is he mocking me?” Jed demanded as he gestured to the grey eyed man with one hand. “Are we to have more riddles?” he queried sardonically.

Wolfe shook his head. “No sir, Mr President,” he corrected calmly, “it's PTSD and a reason for our delay in meeting with you. These men were not involved in these acts you mention. They were in Colombia as we had information suggesting a retaliation by Colombia terrorists in response to the American government offering support to the Colombian government during their civil war. They were there to prevent not cause an act of war but this news of CIA agents supplying cartel members with weapons led to their exposure.”

John did not like where any of this was going. Jed and he had argued about John visiting the President of Colombia. It was an argument John had actually won, deeming that his trip to Colombia would be a weak move and a humiliation not just to him but to the country. Now here was the CIA Director discussing not cartels but terrorists and John was considering that an apology to the President of Colombia sure as hell wasn't going to cut it.

“These men were detained by Colombian soldiers suspicious of their motives,” Director Wolfe confessed, “and they were put in a position because of recent headlines where they felt they were better escaping than attempting to explain their presence but not before Agent Sparks was tortured one night for information about cartel weapons, information which he did not have,” Wolfe added with a nod in the blonde's direction.

The blonde had bowed his head and burrowed both his hands into it. At Wolfe's words he started giggling inappropriately putting all the men in a state of unease.

Leo and John were immediately suspicious. Leo looked to the other three agents, they still didn't know where to look.

“That is a fine story,” Jed retorted bitingly, “so you are saying we helped save heroes not traitors? You CIA are always too vague, you believe it's your right to keep the country protected by deciding what it should and should not know about outside threats. I get it,” he continued as he paced his side of the table all while continuing to stare down Wolfe, “you think because I may only be here a handful of years you have no reason to divulge information about a problem that may have been here before me and might be here after me. You think,” he continued as he raised his voice an octave, “that you shouldn't involve the President because what one President might do another might not and then you have a conflict, a delay, or a setback so why bother involving the President at all?”

Jed paused and glowered at Wolfe for confirmation.

“I believe you don't want war sir,” Wolfe retorted, still sickeningly calm. “There was a bad cell in Colombia,” he admitted, “but this is not them. We did not know about it, now we do. The CIA is taking all measures to pull back from Colombia although it puts us at risk from terrorists seeking a violent vengeance for our efforts to weaponise and support a government they deem corrupt.”

Wolfe raised his silvery white eyebrows slightly. “It all seems to be a matter of opinion Mr President, were the cartel armed in the hopes of leading to them self-destruction and thus one might say it was a necessary evil for the greater good? Were we arming a righteous government or a corrupt one but one we felt was better controlled than the alternative? Are my men here traitors or heroes?”

Wolfe clasped his palms together and waved his hands up and down on the table briefly. “I have another matter of opinion for you to consider before you address the press and, more importantly, the American people.”

Jed gazed down at him wearily. He had already decided that he hated this man and was going to find out if it was possible to prove a link between Wolfe and these dealings with the cartel and if not, to see if he could be removed from his post as Director as some form of punishment for this mess.

“What is that?” Jed demanded.

“Is knowledge of this all one needs to have to be deemed a traitor?” Wolfe queried coolly. His icy stare shifted slightly to Leo. “If you are of the opinion that yes, it is, then you may prepare to continue to see Cadence McGarry's face in the news but in a much wider scope.”

Wolfe finally offered them a smile, it was a feral grin full of malice.

“Has she not informed you of the debt she owes to the CIA?” he queried. “One wonders why the press haven't uncovered that story yet. Perhaps it simply hasn't been fed to them yet.”

“What are you talking about?” Leo snarled. He strode forward, placed his hands on the table and leaned down on it to face Wolfe.

John had lost his expression of blank calm and was trying to wrestle it back. He had felt a jolt within him at the mention of Cadence's name.

The blonde agent was shaking his head. “One, the air is on fire, two, everybody is a liar, three, please let me be, four, no one is ever free,” he started muttering rhymes again.  
Jed shook his head numbly at the display wondering how this man wasn't in a psychiatric ward and how his disturbed behaviour hadn't been noted somewhere so that it might flag up and suggest that maybe he wasn't the type of person to be within range of the President of the United States. Jed felt sorry for him but the emotion passed quickly as Leo's angry voice brought him back to the mention of Cadence.

“What debt?” Leo demanded. “What has she got to do with any of this?”

“I told you,” Wolfe retorted calmly, “it is a matter of opinion. You can take to the press the opinion that the CIA are in Colombia trying to make unsanctioned war with cartels or you can dismiss that as an offence by a minor number of individuals, stopped before it went too far, and express the opinion that the CIA are in Colombia trying to stop acts of terrorism in the United States before they happen.

As for Cadence McGarry perhaps the opinion is that she knew she was involved with terrorists, perhaps she even believed in their cause against the Colombia government which, by extension, would be the United States government or perhaps the opinion is that she had no idea and was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.”

Leo wanted Wolfe to shut up but he couldn't bring himself to order the man to silence. He couldn't fathom what was happening now. Something in him suggested dully that it was blackmail and he knew he shouldn't be hearing it, that he should be ordering some legal action against Wolfe and telling the President not to heed it but he couldn't open his mouth to speak.

“Perhaps the opinion should be gratitude,” Wolfe said smugly. “There was a plane shot down by the Colombian government, low flying, shot with a cheap gun that we definitely did not supply. It wasn't much of a wreckage and the CIA agents there knew there would be survivors. They found them and they questioned them. They didn't shoot them on sight because they're not the monsters some people are implying, and it was just as well because there was an American citizen amongst them.

They accepted her story, that she was trying to help the local people. Agent Sparks here had spent time with her previously while he was undercover and supports that she was helping the people,” Wolfe added as he gestured to the blonde agent on his right. “So the CIA helped her home, after processing her to ensure she was well for travel after the incident.”

“And then they hushed the whole thing up,” Leo murmured darkly.

John, Jed and Leo were all thinking about the same thing- Cadence's two year absence, her talk of South America, her unwillingness to divulge details, and her murmuring of a bush plane crash. John thought about her feverish apology about Colombia and realised numbly that she had not been talking about his meeting with Vice President Rojas after all but something much more serious.

John wondered about Wolfe's words about Cadence being in the press, why had it happened now? Was it possible that the CIA Director had wanted it this way so she was exposed and of interest to a hungry press? So that if this story about Colombia came out people might actually be interested because she was now someone they had heard of and she was now someone already in their minds for being connected to scandal and mental instability?

John clenched his fists slightly by his sides as he struggled to rein in his rising temper. Damn it, it was absurd but it made sense. He supposedly grimly that despite Leo's insistence that no one knew about Robbie dying whilst attempting to be there for prom that there was evidence of it. One only had to look at the dates and a description of Robbie in his suit and surely they could work it out.

“Director Wolfe I want your evidence for these four and their mission,” Jed snapped as he gestured to the table with a wave of his hand.

“That's classified,” Wolfe retorted coolly.

“I don't care, I'm the President, get it for me or, no matter what stories you threaten me with, I will not go to the American people and tell tales of heroes when I have no proof of it.”

“I have proof of Cadence McGarry's presence in Colombia and as she is a civilian I can release it,” Wolfe answered. His tone had taken on a brightness to it that was disturbing to hear.

Leo looked at the four agents sitting about Wolfe, pale faced and anxious. Leo realised he believed the story about them as he recognised it for what it was- a cover. They probably had been down there trying to stop terrorists, they had probably even believed in their cause and devoted themselves to it never thinking that their superiors didn't care much if they did stop some native terrorists. The CIA heads just wanted them ready and in place to trot out, with evidence, should their shady counterparts in Colombia get discovered.

Leo realised grimly that these four might have even been martyred for good press if someone, perhaps Director Wolfe, had not decided they might serve better alive. Leo knew how it worked, he had been in an unpopular war. Acts of corruption and violence never looked good no matter the worthiness of the goal but bring out a suffering soldier who had been brutalised at the hands of the enemy and suddenly the people supported seeking the blood of their opponents. If the bruised agent Sparks ever caught the public eye their might be a certain amount of sympathy for the CIA agents trying to get the Colombians to destroy themselves.

Now Director Wolfe wanted the President to sing the song of the CIA heroes and forget the less popular tune of traitors and the price was Cadence.

Leo felt weary and found himself leaning onto the table for support. Director Wolfe had played the wrong opponent. He was treating Jed as a man not as a president. As a family figure to Cadence, Jed might have considered negotiating with Wolfe for her but as the President he could never give in to blackmail, publicly or privately, and that was what this was.

Leo couldn't see a way out. They would talk to Cadence of course and get her version of events and by God Leo hoped it was innocent but Wolfe would see her smeared anyway and it would come down to opinion as he said because what evidence could she have?

Leo knew Cadence would have to quit or be fired, hell he might be facing the same fate now. Josh and Toby would have to work hard and fast, this couldn't become a large scandal. They would give up the truth of the CIA and the cartel and let that news take over the story of Cadence being in Colombia with some sketchy natives because hell that was all it really was. She could have never known they were terrorists, if they even were, Leo only had Wolfe's word for that right now and what was that worth?

Leo started to realise what John already had. If Cadence wasn't already in the papers, the American public might not even care that much about her being in Colombia with some questionable individuals. They might have shrugged it off as naivety or stupidity on her part but she was known to them now and worse, known for a history of mental instability.

Leo felt a headache budding as he considered the Colombians and their President and how this was all going to look to them. He thought bitterly how only John was benefiting right now, he hadn't wanted to go there and apologise and the President, after a lengthy talk about it with him, which had involved some raised voices, had ultimately and reluctantly agreed with John that the Colombians were asking a bit much and only looking to humiliate John and, by extension, the United States.

Jed realised grimly that the war he had been fearing had begun but it was not with the opponent he had been expecting.

“Director Wolfe I want you and your agents to stay a few more hours while we discuss this,” Jed addressed him with a forced calm, “but you must permit me to have a conversation with my Chief of Staff and the Vice President in private. We can do that next door,” he said as he waved his hands down, “no need for you to move. I'll see you have refreshments brought in while you wait.”

Jed turned from them without waiting for Wolfe to respond. He gave John a stern expression as he headed for the door.

Leo followed, worried and curious and unable to keep his emotions from his face. He was back to fighting between being a father and being the Chief of Staff, it was a battle coming up too often for him. It occurred to him that life had been much easier before Cadence's return and it was a thought he cursed himself for.

As the Secret Service followed them out, Agent Sparks was suddenly on his feet in a hurry and bolting after them.

“I need the toilet,” he exclaimed when the Secret Service agent leaving last turned on him, hand ready to withdraw a gun.

Agent Sparks raised his hands up in a harmless gesture. “I just need a bowel movement,” he babbled, “you know, an ass kiss with the porcelain throne.”

The agent stared back at him warningly suggesting he did not know.

Leo glanced over his shoulder to the blonde. He saw that the man was giving minute tremors and that his eyes were wide and full of terror. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye he saw Director Wolfe standing, ready to protest or follow.

“Let him go,” Leo muttered, “I could use one of those myself. Come on Agent Sparks, I'll show you where the toilets are.”

Leo gave a casual nod to the Secret Service standing at the doorway as he exited. “If Director Wolfe needs the toilet too show him to the ones down the hall on the right,” he ordered quietly.

Leo promptly turned left, leading Sparks after the President and his Vice.

“Is she in this building John?” Jed demanded quietly as they walked, heading for the Vice President's office.

John nodded. “Yes sir.”

“You need to get her to your office now,” he ordered.

They reached John's office within ten minutes, moving through quieter corridors to avoid notice. Leo, Agent Sparks and a Secret Service agent stepped into the nearby toilets on the way.

Jed took this time to get Josh on the phone knowing that on his orders Josh would get the job done without the delay for doubt and arguing that Toby would offer. The embarrassment was having to get John to make the call because Jed didn't know the phone number for Josh's office and had always had Charlie or Mrs. Landingham to make his calls.

It was difficult to explain what Jed wanted to Josh clearly but quickly. Time was of the essence, he could keep Director Wolfe here for a few hours at most but that was all the advantage he would have.

Leo and Agent Sparks entered the room in time to hear Jed's stern command, a declaration of war against Director Wolfe.

“Get the story leaked now Josh,” Jed said firmly. “No delays, not even by a minute, get it out there.”

Leo paled just a little, the decision was harsh and rash but the move was bold and he knew he would have admired it more if not for his personal stake. He knew there was no time for discussion, if they played fair and promised no press action until Director Wolfe was gone then he might reach the news first. Now they had a few hours to damn him, to get the story out first so whatever he said in answer would look like an attempt to get away from the story of cartel being armed by the CIA.

Jed ended the call and passed the phone back to John.

Jed looked to Agent Sparks in puzzlement. “Leo why is he here?” he demanded. “We need Wolfe to stay where he is for a few hours and he won't do that with one of his agents wandering about.”

“I know sir,” Leo agreed, “and I'll send him back but Director Wolfe said Agent Sparks met Cady while he was undercover.”

Leo turned to the bewildered agent with a begging stare. “What did my daughter get mixed up in?” he queried.

The blonde twitched and scratched at his hair with his right hand. “Cady cat where's she at?” He bowed his head and smiled.

“I'm beginning to think we're in some sort of children's television show with this rhyming,” Jed complained wearily.

The agent glanced over to him apologetically. “A rhyme takes time, there's a thought process,” he murmured, “lots of thinking, no time left for other thoughts.” He shrugged and fiddled with his hands, displaying that all his nails were broken off and his fingers had dried blood gathering at the ruined nubs.

“Just tell me,” Leo pleaded.

Agent Sparks glanced at him hopefully. “Get me out?” His unfocused grey stare darted in Jed's direction. “You can, you're the President. She was helping people, they were framed, I guess we all were, to look good?” He made it a question and appeared confused.

Leo sighed. The man had something broken in his mind, that much was clear and, along with his visible wounds, supported Director Wolfe's tale of torture although Leo wasn't totally convinced that it had been by confused Colombian soldiers who only had time to hurt Agent Sparks before he and the other three had escaped somehow.

“Leo send him back,” Jed ordered.

“Cady I need you in my office please,” John ordered down the phone in a neutral tone. “Now,” he added firmly.

John ended the call and looked over to Leo and the blonde. “Sir, it doesn't appear that the CIA have helped him much, aren't you concerned with what Director Wolfe will do to him?”

“Of course I am John,” Jed snapped without glancing back at him, “but I don't think, after we have all met him, that Director Wolfe will have this man up and disappear suddenly or anything so crude. I have only asked that he returns to sit with the director for a few hours, I have not asked that he leave this building with him. If Josh and C.J do their job efficiently then a blow will have been struck and should they ask for it, we can consider offering help to Agent Sparks and his friends.”

Leo guided Agent Sparks to the door and asked one of the Secret Service agents to lead him back to the Diplomatic Reception Room.


	19. The Truth of the Matter

Cadence couldn't hide her surprise as she entered the Vice President's office and found her father and the President there. As she shut the door behind her she had that feeling again of voluntarily sealing herself up in an awkward situation.

She glanced to all three men, unsure who to address. John looked apologetic, as if he knew he had lured her into a trap, her father appeared anxious, his brow was drawn up and lines of worry drew grooves in his face, and the President was stern eyed as he stared at her unblinking. It made Cadence feel like the disobedient schoolgirl called to the principal's office for punishment but as usual she wasn't sure which disobedience of hers had been discovered this time.

“Good afternoon Mr President, Mr Vice President, Mr McGarry,” she greeted calmly.

Leo frowned as she gave him his title despite him telling her not to use it. Leo imagined Cadence probably thought she was making it easier for him, as if by calling him Mr McGarry she could make him forget his ties to her and not see her as his daughter for a moment. He knew as he studied her forcibly calm face that he was going to have to let her know later how wrong she was about that.

Jed waved her in and away from the door. He glanced up to the bronze clock John detested and knew he wasn't going to have much time with Cadence before Director Wolfe got fed up and left to learn of the news that was breaking now.

“Cadence I'm sorry that I am going to be blunt but we have a time limit here,” Jed explained solemnly as he studied her. She still looked a little pale and there was a redness to her eyes and she had evidently dressed for comfort over style for a very rare change. Jed wondered if she was still feeling a little fluish or if it was more than that considering the news of Robbie. He had pried a little about her with Leo but had been a little too preoccupied with the CIA, Colombia and the threats to his own daughter Zoey, and he couldn't even recall what Leo might have said about Cadence.

Cadence nodded numbly as she continued to wonder what the President was going to discuss with her. Her hands raised to her hips, pushing up her cream jumper slightly before dropping by her sides again. She could feel her stomach tighten a little as dread manifested in it.

“Cadence, this afternoon we met with the Director of the CIA, one Sebastian Wolfe, I don't know if you are familiar with that name or not.”

Jed continued talking briskly not given Cadence a chance to respond. “We met about renegade agents in Colombia and you came into the conversation. As you can imagine, we were all a little surprised,” he added sardonically as he stared at her sternly. “This is what we know, at some point during the past two years exempting the few months you have been with ourselves, you were in Colombia and while there you were in a plane crash. I want you to tell us about that because Director Wolfe has told us something about that.

We know the CIA have been in Colombia giving weapons to the cartel,” he added, “and now I have four more CIA agents telling me they were there recently trying to infiltrate terrorists planning attacks in America, convenient for them to be doing something so heroic while Colombia keeps asking us about our own people arming their criminals!” Jed's voice rose an octave as he let his anger slip through.

Seeing Cadence tense slightly Jed tried to mollify his temper but he couldn't. He was the President of the United States and he didn't have a damn clue what was going on.

Jed pointed at Cadence accusingly. “Cadence I want the truth now damn it, you've kept things from us and now we have a very public mess on our hands. Damn it we might even have a war coming. You had dealings with the CIA and Colombian soldiers didn't you? And yet you didn't think,” he added sardonically, “that it would be a good idea to tell someone that before you came to work for the Vice President and on my recommendation God damn it!”

Jed thrust his hand down and glowered at her as he awaited a response. He sensed Leo beside him, tense and barely holding himself to silence.

“Dealings,” Cadence echoed numbly. She stepped back against the wall and shook her head before looking at Jed in confusion. “Where are you getting this information from sir?” Her voice was quiet with a forced calm. “I have no idea who Director Wolfe is.”

Jed's blue eyes filled with a fury and he glanced to Leo disbelievingly. “Is that the important thing?” he snapped.

“The CIA, Cadence, may be behind the leak to the press about Robbie and your suicide attempt,” Leo retorted quietly. “At least, Director Wolfe seems to be implying it, and now he is talking about leaking a story about you in Colombia to them, which they will pay attention to because you're on the radar already.”

Leo didn't know what to feel right now- disappointment, sympathy, empathy, anger? His mind was a muddle of emotions.

Cadence almost looked amused at this as she shook her head. “You think the CIA leaked a story about me trying to kill myself over Robbie getting murdered?” she queried cynically. “No.”

“Cadence I know how it sounds,” Leo murmured, “but it is what's been implied.”

“It's not our concern,” Jed grumbled, “the business in Colombia with you is the issue here.”

Cadence stepped away from the wall and paused to sweep her hands through her hair, pushing it back over her shoulders.

“I know who that leak was,” she confessed, still calm although her bloodshot stare betrayed that she was on edge.

“Who?” John quipped with a glance of intrigue. He wanted to hear it if only so he could be vindicated before Leo.

“Not the CIA,” Cadence murmured. She glanced to her father. “Although they may indeed be trying to take advantage it, perhaps seeing me in the press reminded them of my existence,” she said bitterly. She started to pluck at the fluff on her right sleeve as she glanced about the room awkwardly.

“Alright,” Leo retorted bluntly. He was getting annoyed with her evasiveness, it wasn't helping anyone and it was eating into time they didn't have. “So maybe Director Wolfe just wants us to think he knows more about you than he does but this business in Colombia is real,” he said sternly, “and it is going to come out in the press. Look at me Cadence,” he ordered sharply.

Cadence glanced up from her arm and the fluff she was plucking at. Her blue-grey gaze was tired and glazed at the edges.

“Director Wolfe tried to blackmail the President today,” Leo said bluntly. “He wants the President to downplay this business with the CIA and the cartel and promote a story of four agents risking their lives and even suffering torture at the hands of Colombian soldiers whilst trying to infiltrate Colombian terrorists who plan to target people up here in retaliation for our government helping theirs. His terms were a story about you and how it could be interpreted. He had someone else with him to corroborate, an Agent Sparks.” He watched her as he said the name, hoping for a reaction.

Cadence went to sit but she missed the seat beside her and landed hard on the floor. As if unaware of her actions she began to speak in an emotionless tone as she stared ahead at the President's legs and shoes.

John watched her fall rather than sit with surprise. He almost moved to help her before reminding himself swiftly that it was a gesture her father and the President might read a little too much into.

“Benny,” she murmured. She shook her head again. “I was in Colombia,” she murmured, “trying to help people. I was being selfish by being selfless,” she added bitingly, “helping the less fortunate but only so I could distract myself.”

“The less fortunate,” the President growled, “now was that people who believed their government had left them that way and that they needed to do something about it?”

Cadence glanced up at the President in puzzlement. “No,” she protested. “They were remote from all that, they lived in a small village in the jungle, they didn't care about politics and by God that was nice sir,” she added pointedly.

“Cady what in the hell went on down there?” Leo queried, his voice quiet as a worried tenderness crept into his grey gaze. She was being evasive but he realised they were too.

None of them wanted to tell her exactly what accusations Director Wolfe had made because then it might give her a chance to lie, they would more likely get the truth from her if she didn't know what he had said.

“And why didn't you tell us?” Jed demanded in an accusing tone. “There's going to be a lot of damage from this,” he warned her, “damage you could have avoided if you had only mentioned this before.”

Cadence pushed herself to her feet again, determined to look stronger than she felt. She made it upright but her stance was guarded as she hugged her arms about her torso.

“Before I got a job here?” Cadence quipped savagely. “I just wanted a moment were I could be doing something right!” she snapped. “Something that maybe mom would finally be proud of me for and you dad,” she added as she glanced to Leo. “I didn't mention Colombia because I couldn't and I knew I wouldn't be believed and I was right, you've made your assumptions and now you're making your accusations.”

“Cadence I am the President of the United States,” Jed addressed her warningly, “you don't talk to me like this. Do you realise this could mean a war for us? That your silence for reasons you still haven't divulged could have one hell of a price to pay! You knew about the CIA activities in Colombia months before anyone in the White House and you didn't think it was something to tell anyone, why?”

“All due respect sir,” John finally intruded into the heated conversation as he moved to stand beside Jed, “but you cannot talk to her like this. It's an interrogation, this isn't how we should be doing this.”

Jed turned a furious glare onto his Vice and for a moment felt a burning anger for him he hadn't felt in months. He couldn't understand John's brazen interruption, could the VP not understand the gravity of the situation? Had he forgotten that Director Wolfe was waiting for their return and that C.J was running the story out to the press now of the treachery of a few minor CIA agents, and that Leo had Toby, Sam and Josh at the panic stations making apologies for Colombia and statements for the American people whilst trying to work how to neither blow this out of proportion nor be seen as sweeping it under the carpet? No one had the time for Cadence to delay over telling her story, a story that should have come long before she had taken on her post.

“I was just on a break,” Cadence snapped. “I was in a tiny village that isn't even on the damn map.” She shook her head anxiously. “I'd travelled around the States but then you got your Presidency and sir I just wanted some peace from all the things here,” she admitted as she glanced at Jed tiredly. “I ran away, I admit it,” she said as her gaze shifted back down to her arms, “and I sought somewhere quiet, out of the way because I didn't want anything to do with politics or even America anymore. I was trying to move on.”

Cadence's head tipped up again and her eyes suddenly met John's and budded with tears. She looked away quickly and sank her nails into her sleeves.

“I even met someone,” she added wistfully. “I really thought I could just stay with him, out of the way, out of scandal, out of the spotlight. He called himself Ben Finch, a freelance photographer from New Mexico. He was quirky, always looked at the world a bit differently but I liked that,” she said with a faint smile as she pushed back a stray strand of hair from her face. “He took me through the jungle to see ruins I didn't even know where there. He could always find these nice spots to look at. We did some work together for the village, we were trying to make life just a little easier for them. They had so little,” she murmured with a sorrowful stare, “but they didn't mind, they appreciated our help but they never asked for it.”

Cadence looked to Jed but she couldn't meet his gaze anymore, knowing the disappointment and rage he would have in it for her. “I wasn't there for them, I was just trying to hide and I think they knew that but they didn't mind. I was just another tourist trying to undo bad deeds with good ones, so utterly selfish.”

Cadence sighed and swallowed hard. “That's all it was, I swear, all I was meant to be there for. All I wanted. Anyway, there was all this talk of the cartel coming to make heroin in the jungle or hide money or both, I don't know. Ben got nervous, said we should go to the towns where it was safer but I didn't want to. It was stupid, he kept asking me to go with him but I kept thinking I hadn't gone there for...that. I'd left that behind.”

John tensed slightly at her words. The entire time she had talked he had kept his focus on her, worried for her and so curious to hear the truth of where she had been. He knew what 'that' had to mean and he didn't even know how to feel about it. Guilt he supposed and perhaps a little anger but why? Because she had left? Because she made it sound so final, like she didn't want 'that' back.

“A week later the Colombian soldiers came,” Cadence continued, her voice stiff now, wooden as she tried to keep the emotion from it even as her face bore sorrow and guilt, “and forced some of us onto this small plane to get us out of the area, for our own good they said.”

“The soldiers put you on the plane?” Leo queried carefully.

Cadence glanced at him with surprise. She had forgotten her father was there listening to her story. “Yeah, it was raining and the thing was rickety and there were so many trees, I didn't want to go but I had no choice.” She swallowed hard again before correcting herself. “They gave me no choice. That I swear, they had guns, they were aggressive and I suddenly realised how stupid I was staying without Ben, the lone, American woman in the middle of a jungle and me too foolish to even tell anyone I was there.”

Cadence's bitter smile was back and both hands were gripping her arms tightly.

“It took off in a clear spot of land, everything was quick,” she murmured.

Cadence paused and appeared confused before her expression became one of revulsion and her skin greyed at the edges. “It was all fast, I can't even see the soldiers' faces, the rain was warm and there was the smell of damp everywhere. The plane was shaking but it got up, cleared the trees and then the wing was clipped and it was down again, it hit the ground with a thump. I lost my breath and my chest hurt, it skidded the wheels I think but it...it was in one piece.”

“What do you mean the wing was clipped?” Leo queried.

“It was a deliberate shot,” Cadence explained, “I learned that after, makes sense though, if they wanted it damaged it would've been. They ensured it was coming back down but with every chance for a smooth landing. I keep thinking about the why, I mean they were just innocent villagers. God I've been trying to forget it.” She tensed up and shuddered without warning.

John moved at last, thoroughly fed up now with Jed's manner of conducting things. He headed towards Cadence but stopped without doing anything, leaving him standing awkwardly before her putting her in his shadow.

“There was something on the plane, something they wanted, you know I tried to block it all out but then I tried to bring it back but the memory's not there,” Cadence murmured, “whatever it was I can't see it. I wasn't supposed to see and maybe they knew I didn't know.”

“They?” Jed snapped. He sidestepped John so he could see Cadence again but he didn't move any closer, leaving John half a foot in front of him. “Who are they?”

“The CIA,” she said numbly. “They shot the plane, they clipped it. They brought us out of the plane, separated us, interrogated us, and told the soldiers the villagers were part of the terrorist group, rebels against the government. I think...” She hesitated with a frown and a puzzled look. “I keep thinking anyway that it was easier because of me, the American, the soldiers let the CIA do things because I was there and they thought maybe it was a bigger organisation.”

Cadence paled and stumbled until her back hit the wall.

“They executed them.” Her voice was clear and emotionless. She shut her eyes as she heard the gunfire in her mind and jolted three times.

“I don't believe this,” Jed muttered under his breath. He filled with frustration and shook his head. “I don't, it's a web and everyone has a different pattern to show me. Leo, the Colombians are going to want answers and I do too.”

Jed glanced at Leo in anger but Leo only had eyes for his daughter.

Cadence gave a weak smile. “Ben showed up except he wasn't a photographer, he was Agent Sparks, which I guess you know except I'm not sure what you've been told about any of this,” she reminded them. “I guess I can't be too mad at him, I'd told him my name was O'Brien. He saw me and started arguing with the other agents about what should happen to me because I was American. There were two holding me, they asked me about what I knew, what I thought was going on.”

Cadence's smile turned bitter. “I was foolish, the whole damn trip I made mistake after mistake, the first was trusting Ben was a photographer. I said they'd shot the plane, I should've lied. I said the villagers were innocent but I should've lied about that too. They were going to kill me and I told another truth I shouldn't have. I said who I was, I screamed it at them, shouted that I was a McGarry, daughter of Leo, recently appointed Chief of Staff.”

Cadence started to laugh as tears slipped down her cheeks. “There was a redhead and he said he knew me because of that thesis, that he remembered seeing me on the television over a year ago and that I was her, the woman who hated democracy. That thesis saved my life.”

John glanced over his shoulder to Jed imploringly, wanting this to end. He knew the trouble they were in for with this but he couldn't muster any blame for Cadence over it. He was more than a little annoyed she hadn't told him about it before now but he understood why. She had been threatened, frightened into silence and thinking no one would believe it anyway. He got that, it did sound surreal.

Jed ignored John, they were too close to the heart of things for him to bid Cadence to silence.

“I don't remember much after that,” Cadence continued tiredly, “they took me somewhere. I was kept alone in a hut, the smell of damp never went away and I heard shouting and gunfire all the time. I don't even know how long it took. They said I had to sign things, disclosures, they kept insisting the villagers were terrorists and after a while I stopped caring. I was sore, I'd hurt my arm when the plane went down and no one had helped me, I hadn't slept or eaten in days and the villagers were dead and Ben Finch had never been real, I just wanted it all to stop.”

Leo's brow furrowed and he clenched his fists to suppress a tremble. He knew what had happened even if Cadence didn't seem to, it was warfare tactics. They had exhausted her, starved her and isolated her, all to wear her down into submission and compliance.

Leo knew why she had gotten to live as well. Someone in the CIA had undoubtedly jumped for joy upon learning who Cadence was and had planned for the long term, for this moment they were dealing with right now when they could exploit the daughter of the Chief of Staff to manipulate a Presidential pardon for their misdeeds and murders in Colombia. They had just been waiting for the right time and the press had given it to them thanks to some still unknown leak.

“They were adamant I told no one, insisted I would be seen as a helper of terrorists whether I had meant to or not. Ben came, they sent him with the forms and a smile.” She shook her head. “It didn't quite work, I can still smell the blood, he had it about his nostrils and on his lip and his eyes were so strange. He kept saying we and us, that I was signing for our freedom, he looked like hell but I did too.”

Cadence looked up to Jed and finally met his gaze with her exhausted one. “I betrayed the villagers, I did nothing while they were shot except listen. I betrayed everyone here too with my silence as you say but I had pushed it away, I tried to say it happened to Cadence O'Brien not to me. I was scared,” she confessed quietly, “and I had signed things. They said if I kept silent it would all go away, that I had been somewhere I shouldn't have been but it was okay if I was quiet. If I spoke I would be outed as a terrorist or as the helper of them, I would go to jail and my father's career would be over and maybe worse things because maybe I wasn't to be trusted they said. It was the plane, I know it was, there was something on it that the CIA wanted but I don't know why people had to die for it.”

Cadence bowed her head wearily and fell silent.

“Sir, this has to be enough,” John said firmly.

Although John's tone was stern his stare for Jed was begging. It was killing him to keep formal when the anger in him was growing but he was trying to stay on the President's good side so that he might give in and spare Cadence anymore grief.

Jed's cerulean stare was fierce in answer but only because he knew John was right to be cross with him. He had pushed Cadence for answers and lost his temper with her because he couldn't see how she could have any innocence in this. Hell he had to admit it for what it was, he had allowed Director Wolfe to manipulate him.

“It's enough to talk to those agents again,” Jed grumbled.

Jed knew there was no time to be personal so he turned to face Leo and started giving orders.

“Leo, start talking to other people, Sam, Toby, some lawyers who can deal with this and someone who can police these damn CIA agents and their director. We need them separated, we need answers and we need to make sure they can't disappear and avoid answering for this,” he added firmly as he stabbed downwards through the air with one finger.

“It sounds like Colombia isn't entirely faultless mind and that's what we must lead with, they have bad people and unfortunately so do we and they have been working together but now we have exposed them and we will stop them. Although it pains me that our own have betrayed us this isn't something we shall shirk from or hide, we're admitting our guilt and we're going to make amends for it.”

“I'll go to Colombia,” John remarked sombrely. He was addressing Jed but his gaze was still fixed on Cadence. “And I'll say what you need me to.”

John glanced to Jed and then over to Leo. “You need to return to Director Wolfe,” he reminded them.

Jed's blue eyes were upon Cadence again but he didn't know what to say or even how to feel about her story. At the moment he was still outraged that she couldn't have brought herself to mention it before now. How could she not have believed that he and her father would have been able to protect her had she only come to them first? He was the President after all.

“I have no evidence for any of this,” Cadence remarked, seeming to guess at the unvoiced question. “Only my word and what is that worth these days?” she queried bitingly.

“More than you think,” Jed said seriously. He glanced to Leo. “Leo we need to go, now.”

Leo was silent, caught up in shock at his daughter's revelation. He was still trying to digest it and make sense of it. He was stuck on the motives just like Cadence and certain now that Agent Sparks and the other three had simply been a cover, a guise for other goings on, the trade of weapons with cartel was the real action of the CIA. He wondered how much Sparks and the others had known about their duties and knew he had many more questions for this half-mad agent who had seemingly both deceived and saved his daughter.

“Leo,” John addressed him quietly, “you need to get a handle on this. I'll see she's looked after.”

Leo turned a bewildered expression to the Vice President. “Hmm?” He blinked and his grey gaze darted from John to Cadence and then back to John. “Right John, I'll...I'll call.”

Leo headed from the room first, desperate to escape, knowing he had to be professional again and couldn't afford even a moment to console his distraught daughter because if he attempted that then he might not be able to leave her and the President needed him now. The country was going to be in a turmoil soon and they were about to have the potential of a war.

Jed followed wordlessly without an invite to his Vice.

“You need to sit,” John addressed Cadence quietly once they were gone.

She stared at him at him blankly, her gaze still glazed at the edges.

John gestured gently with his hand to a row of leather backed seats near her and against the wall.

Cadence followed his gesture and blinked before moving to a chair but she missed again, opting to slump to the floor by choice this time.

John looked down at her pityingly as she drew her knees up against herself and sat, still and silent. He put himself beside her and moved down to the floor to sit with her. He couldn't keep from her any longer, the watchful eyes of her father and the President were gone, now he needed to embrace her because she needed consoled.

Cadence stiffened when she felt the Vice President's hand reaching for her. At first she dared to wonder at his motives as a hand crept around her back and to her shoulder but then it stopped at her shoulder and tugged her gently to his torso.

Cadence went willingly to lean against his coal grey jacket although it was a little rough against her skin. She was quiet against him, unsure what to do anymore.

John kissed her gently on the head. “We're going to stay like this for a while,” he murmured softly.

“You should've let me quit,” she replied with a forced hint of dark mockery.

John shook his head as his other hand reached out to push through her hair. “Cady no matter how many donkeys you tell me you've made out of things I'm not letting you go again.”

She let out a hiss of laughter. “Jesus John,” she scorned him, “what the hell does that mean?”

He shrugged. “It was your word choice, remember?”

“I'm going to be accused of terrorism by the CIA, that's what's going to happen, isn't it? Because the President won't stand by them and their lies.”

“Yes,” John admitted.

Cadence let out an aggrieved sigh as she slackened her legs and let them straighten on the floor. “I think it was better when I was just bashing the Electoral College.”

“Cady you weren't to blame for those villagers' deaths, you couldn't have stopped that,” John assured her.

“John, I did nothing.”

“You would have died too if you hadn't.”

“I should have exposed them,” she mumbled. “God I shouldn't have taken this job but I wanted to settle, I wanted something steady and dad was pleased and mom was too and I...I missed you.”

John smiled. “I wondered if you had.”

“You know I did but it was all selfishness again,” she murmured. She felt the salty sting of tears again and tried to blink them away. “I should have turned it down.”

“I'm glad you didn't,” John assured her.

John turned her into him and hugged her close, embracing her to him with both hands.

Cadence welcomed it even though she knew it was wrong but she felt a pained loneliness inside and this helped it just a little. She breathed in John's aftershave and snuggled into his warmth, wanting that bubble of pretence again, even a few minutes of it was better than nothing.

“We'll get through this,” John said confidently, “and that is we Cady, you are a part of my team and no matter what you are staying a part of it, anti-democratic thesis, mental health issues, CIA trouble, donkeys, sheep, raccoons, Cady I don't care, I will not let you go again and if they try to ruin you with this then I will do everything I can to see them burn for it.”

“I think I need a drink,” she mumbled.

John laughed. “You can have water.”

“I think I've earned something stronger,” she complained.

“You can have orange juice then,” he teased.

Cadence felt herself smile even as the tears continued to run.


	20. The Secret's Out

Josh figured the answer was simple but the looks he was getting suggested otherwise. “Oh come on!” he cried out with an expression of disbelief for their doubt. He slammed his hand down on Toby's table for good measure.

Toby frowned at the gesture and stared pointedly at the part of the table that had been smacked. “You don't have to take it out on the table Josh,” he scolded, “we're not in theatre, we can take your point without the dramatics.”

“Oh can you?” Josh sneered as he turned his scorn on Toby.

Toby nodded sombrely. “I can and I agree with it, I'm just not sure about your methods.”

Josh looked surprised as did Sam but for very different reasons. Josh took a step back and lowered his hands before glancing about the office awkwardly. “You agree?” he quipped in a quieter voice as he lost his dramatics.

Toby nodded again. He was seated at his desk wavering his attention from Josh to Sam to the newspapers on his desk and the muted television in the corner that broadcast the news that was the main focus of their discussion.

“You agree we need to burn her,” Josh said firmly. He looked to Toby, waiting for the man to actually say those words.

“Toby no,” Sam protested.

Sam was seated on a chair opposite the desk, tense with unease and unsure what else to say.

Josh pointed at him in a scolding manner. “Sam you can't look at this personally, I told you that,” he snapped. “You want to go soft because she's Mallory's sister but she's burned us damn it! I mean I knew she had skills for scandal but this, this is global Sam!”

Sam rose from his seat suddenly to glower over at his co-worker. “Josh you are the one taking this personally,” he protested, “and you know it. This is not just about a thesis, what did Cady do to make you so mad at her?”

“You see, that right there is personal, you call her Cady,” Josh remarked as he shook his finger up and down animatedly before clapping his palm to his chest, “I don't!”

Toby sighed as he stood too, feeling a little too much like he was losing control by being the only seated one.

“Gentlemen,” Toby addressed the pair firmly, “we are not here to discuss relationships with Cadence McGarry, we are discussing how to deal with the public accusation by the CIA that she tried to help terrorists in Colombia and her alleged story that the CIA was actually guilty of orchestrating the murder of innocent villagers in Colombia.”

“Alleged,” Sam repeated with scorn. He turned a stern stare on his boss. “Toby look I'm a lawyer, we all are and I know the evidence is scant but it is the CIA we are dealing with and we have only just started looking for it. We have a CIA agent who is supporting her story. We know the CIA were in Colombia giving weapons to the cartel, it is a fact, so why are we assuming they're telling the truth about Cady?”

“Sam your logic could apply to this agent who supports her, there's nothing to prove he isn't lying but the fact is we don't believe the CIA about her,” Josh retorted wearily. He frowned at his friend with exasperation. “It doesn't matter, she's damaged either way by this which is why we have to burn her and hell maybe the Vice President should be taking a wrap for this mess too.”

“Josh,” Toby interrupted sharply, “that is a decision out of our remit.”

Toby pressed his hands down on his desk and leaned onto it slightly. He was tired, they had been in his office for three hours now discussing speeches to match the news. They had delivered a few already for C.J who was definitely in the lion's den today with the press but they didn't know what to offer the President because they didn't know what side he was going to take.

Josh pushed his hands through his hair and shook his head angrily. “Well it's for someone to consider,” he said pointedly. “I mean he didn't set us up too well for Colombia.”

“Josh that isn't fair,” Sam protested quietly. “I agree he let the Vice of Colombia get the better of him but that was a mistake, we all make them. I think burning Cady not only implies she's guilty when there is no way she is but you're also suggesting she should be punished for the mistake of trying to help people because, as you seem to be forgetting or ignoring, that's what she was doing Josh.”

Josh shook his head as he paced the office and wished the space was bigger. He wondered how it was that Cadence was a magnet for trouble and considered that all the scandals he knew about her seemed to be linked. She had lost her boyfriend to tragic circumstances leading to a suicide attempt, trying to come back from this tragedy and distract herself from her grief, she had thrown herself into her studies. Her excelling at her work had led to a placement on John Hoynes' campaign team and, apparently, the writing of an ambitious thesis. Said thesis had come out prompting her to flee Hoynes' already floundering campaign and attempt some anonymity for herself but then her father had become Chief of Staff, a role a little too public and prominent so she had fled to another country, Colombia. There she had tried to help people in an obscure village but had stumbled onto the CIA and what exactly? The annoying what was exactly what Josh couldn't figure out. What had the CIA been doing in the village? Why would they had persuaded Colombian soldiers that innocent villagers were actually rebels or terrorists or both to be executed?

“Sam it isn't so simple,” Josh grumbled, “what do you want to do here?” He stopped walking and looked to Sam again. “Do you want the President to announce he believes her and supports her, thus implying that the CIA are not only giving weapons to drug dealers but that they're also murdering Colombians for reasons no one, including Cadence, can tell us. The CIA are our people Sam, saying something like that will mean war.”

“No, Cadence is one of our people Josh,” Sam retorted heatedly, “we know her, she works on our side. I don't know these CIA agents but if they did what she says then we shouldn't cover for it.”

Josh continued to glower at Sam, hating him for being prepared to stand by Cadence so easily.

Toby intervened before the squabbling could start up again. “Fellas let's take a break,” he ordered. “We aren't getting anywhere with this bickering and we don't know what way the White House is going to go on this matter yet.”

Toby gestured to a notepad on his desk he had written points on. “We have the key points here, we can review them again before C.J's next press meeting,” he suggested tiredly.

“They won't wait for the President to speak,” Josh grumbled. “They've already started to form their opinions based on Director Wolfe's leaks and the silence we have given them so far is damning.”

“Yes Josh I know,” Toby shouted angrily as he finally let his own temper seep out. “I know and I wish our President wasn't being hesitant with this, especially since I think he's looking at this not as the President but as a family friend and that is dangerous but here we are! Get out of my office and take ten, go grab a coffee, go focus on something else, go pull your hair out, damn it I don't care, just go do something else.”

Josh looked a little stunned at Toby's outburst before he moved towards the door. It involved bypassing Sam with another unpleasant stare. Josh blamed Sam for the discord in the office, Toby was agreeing with Josh and only Sam seemed unable to see that all they could do was measure the rope Cadence had hung herself with.

Josh slipped out to an office space that seemed somehow both crowded and empty. Everyone was quiet in their work but busy, trying to avoid eye contact with him as they dealt with other White House matters. Josh avoided looking at them too as he headed for his office.

Josh wondered at Sam's accusations. Was he being too personal about this or was he the only sane one right now? How could Cadence come back from this? How could they? Even if she was a victim in all of this how could it matter? To stand by her meant betraying the CIA and admitting that they, the White House staff, had known nothing about their nefarious deeds, and it meant risking war with Colombia surely. It also meant accusations about nepotism as many members of the press were likely to think Cadence was getting protection and support simply because she was Leo's daughter and they would be right about that.

Josh sat at his desk and bowed his head into his hands. He let out a loud curse into his palms before dragging them down his face.

For most of the staff it was a sign to stay away but for his loyal assistant Donna it was a cry for help and she was quick to answer.

The blonde opened the door unhesitatingly and poked her head in with a worried blue stare. “Josh?”

Josh glanced up at her with a sardonic smile. “Hey Donna,” he greeted tiredly.

Donna was looking lovely in grey but Josh didn't know if it was a distraction he wanted or not.

“You know Leo doesn't like to hear cursing in the White House, at least that's what he keeps telling Toby,” Donna reminded him.

Josh nodded. “Well sometimes the situation calls for it,” he muttered, “and I think in this situation Leo might consider some cursing himself.”

Donna stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. “Josh I could hear some of what you and Toby and Sam were saying,” she admitted.

Josh gave her a calm stare. “You mean you were eavesdropping,” he accused.

“You were yelling,” she corrected calmly.

Donna folded her arms and regarded him with her own look of scorn, unperturbed by his anger. Donna understood Josh's show of rage, he was a passionate person often animated by his emotions, it was usually a trait she found admirable in him.

“Josh,” she addressed him quietly, “I don't get it. You've stood by me when I've slipped up and Sam, he had relations with a hooker,” she reminded him, “and you never once suggested he should be let go.”

“That was different, this could be war Donna!” Josh protested.

Donna frowned and shook her head. “She was helping the Colombians, they should be grateful to her, she could have died for it.”

“If you believe her,” Josh grumbled.

“Josh,” Donna cried out. Her eyes widened slightly and she dropped her hands to her sides. “You can't believe the alternative. You were getting along with her, why do you still have this grudge against her?”

Josh leaned back into his chair before gesturing to himself with both hands. “I don't get it!” he retorted in disbelief. “Why do you all defend her? Donna she's been nothing but problematic for everyone, she wrote that stupid thesis which put Hoynes as much at risk as Bartlet and honestly, I still can't understand that. Sure maybe it was some rebellion against Leo but why hurt Hoynes?”

Donna cocked her head in confusion. “And you care about Hoynes?” she queried sardonically.

Josh's dark stare became confused. “Donna it's complicated,” he tried to evade the question.

“Then uncomplicate it,” Donna ordered as she refused to give up on the matter. “What else has she done? Scored points for him? Josh that's her job and she's done well for the President too, he and the Vice President have been unified, publicly, for the first time in a long time and you know that's a good thing. It's what the public expect and how I thought things happened until I came here, I mean who knew the President and his Vice could be bickering so much when they should be on the same side?”

Donna shrugged as she continued to stare down at Josh with annoyance. “Cadence went to Colombia to avoid some bad press, she admits that but she helped people while she was down there, people who were murdered, probably in front of her, then she was threatened and blackmailed and God knows what else and instead of seeking justice for her and those people you just want to get rid of her, why is that? This is one you're going to have to explain to me.”

Josh sighed. There he had been thinking he would have a reprieve from this topic away from Toby and Sam but apparently it wasn't meant to be. He wondered how in the hell Cadence's version of events was even sweeping through the White House so fast when it hadn't been released to the press or public.

“You were out dancing and singing with her,” Donna reminded him. “You used to work with her and you used to dance and sing with her then too, it sounds like you should be friends and you're meant to help friends Josh. What am I missing here?”

She looked to him appealingly, trusting that Josh somehow would have a sufficient defence for this, an explanation that would justify his cold desire to see Cadence tossed to the wolves.

Josh swallowed hard at that analogy, wolves again, it wasn't one that was going away anytime soon. The problem was Josh didn't know who the wolves were- the CIA, the Colombians, or members of the USA government? Was he a wolf?

Josh realised it wasn't groups, it was individuals- the CIA still had plenty of good men and women in it who didn't deserve to have their reputation undone by this mess, the Colombians as a people were like anyone else in the world, they had their good, their bad and their mediocre, and the USA government had its mix as well.

In the current government there were wolves determined to get the job done no matter the cost but there were also folk like Donna who came in with hope shining in their eyes and who believed in the old values of justice, honesty and freedom. There were the Republicans, who were categorised with the same brush of hate simply because they hadn't won this term, seen as the enemy in the Senate trying to block the Democratic President's policies out of a loser's spite. Except it wasn't true or so simple and Josh knew it even as he made jokes about the vampires in the Senate.

Josh realised Donna had raised a good point about Cadence, she had gotten the President and Vice President to be seen as getting along better publicly. It had been good in a time when the Republicans who did detest them had been quick to use the discord against them, stating openly that the people couldn't trust a leader who couldn't even get along with people in his own party.

“Donna she's not my friend,” was all Josh could say.

Donna's look of disappointment had an effect Sam's heated words could not and it cut Josh to the bone.

“I see,” Donna said solemnly in a quiet voice full of woe.

“Donna,” Josh began a protest. He dropped it as soon as he started and waved her off. “Never mind.”

Josh wasn't willing to unload the heavy truth he carried with him onto the blond. It was there though, always lurking in the back of mind every time Cadence was mentioned or in his presence. He knew he had to push it to one side, that it couldn't be relevant to his feelings on current matters but he knew it was influencing him and that Sam was right, he was making this personal.

There was a low knock on the office door.

Donna whirled round and hurried to answer it.

Sam peered in to the pair sombrely. “The President wants to see us Josh,” Sam informed them stiffly.

Josh nodded as he rose from his desk.

\----

Cadence took a deep gulp of the generous glass of whiskey she had poured for herself. It had been, until ten minutes ago, an unopened gift from Mallory, both a house warming gift and a congratulations gift. Now Cadence was determined to drink away the irony of that as she took gulps between conversation.

She stood in her kitchen with the cream cord of her phone twisted about her waist as she listened to her mother scold her for today's headlines.

“Your father gave you a chance and you've disgraced him!” Jenny McGarry snapped down the phone. “And Jed, God bless that man, he welcomes you after everything, takes a risk on you despite his position and this is what happens.”

“Uh huh.” Cadence tilted the glass up and drained the remainder. “Hey mom did you notice Robbie in the news?” she queried sarcastically. “Because you didn't call about that, unless I missed it. Hey mom, did I miss that call?”

“Really Cadence is that going to be your excuse for every screw up? That boy got murdered so you can get drunk and you can cut yourself and put your parents through hell with a suicide attempt and then you can join a presidential campaign simply to spite your father and write damning essays about your government because you were on the losing side and now this, whatever this is.”

Cadence balanced the phone between her head and shoulder as she reached for the open bottle and poured again. “Gee mom thanks for asking if it was true or not,” she sneered. “Thanks for assuming I'm telling the truth and then asking how I feel after almost getting murdered and being in a plane crash and...and...” Cadence paused and pushed a hand through her hair before reaching for the glass. “And fuck mom,” she snapped angrily, “I was put in a hut for days, it was dark, it was damp, people yelled at me, people threatened me, made accusations and told lies and sometimes hit me. People I knew died. A man who I had feelings for turned out to be someone else, he betrayed me and then he made me stay quiet to stay alive,” she remarked bitterly.

Cadence brought the glass to her lips again and swallowed hard. “It got to the point where I just wanted home but I couldn't go home because I was scared but then dad was in the news and I just needed to be with you again. I didn't know this would happen, I didn't think they ever wanted this story public, and I didn't know they were trading weapons for drugs damn it!”

“Cadence I can tell you're drunk, which certainly doesn't excuse your vile language,” Jenny scolded. “Even in all this you're still making bad choices.”

Cadence hung up the phone at last. She finished her glass and tried to walk back to the bottle but the phone cord was still wrapped about her.

Cadence glanced down despairingly. “Ah shit,” she grumbled.

She fidgeted with the cord briefly before the knife rack caught her eye. She reached for the steak knife in the centre, tugged it out and sliced through the cord sloppily.

“Can't call back now,” she murmured cheerfully as she stumbled over to the bottle.

Cadence poured again, little caring for how quickly she was knocking back the drinks. Hell she really didn't care for much right now. She hadn't heard from anyone in two days. She was on leave and she didn't know on whose orders that was- John or Jed's- but she didn't think it mattered either way. Innocent or guilty they'd have to let her go either way. The leak from the CIA had happened and the news had broken this morning. The press talked about confirmed sources but they didn't name anyone, Director Wolfe wasn't that stupid.

Cadence had figured she was prepared for it, she had offered to quit twice before now for lesser offences but now that it was becoming a reality she realised she wasn't prepared at all.

Cadence tossed the knife back to the counter with a careless clatter. She wasn't going to look to it for help anymore, she couldn't go back to that. Her blue-grey gaze caught on the silver sheen of the blade and she thought of the oblivion it might bring. A few minutes of pain and then eternal escape. She shook her head and poured another glass instead. Drink might only be a temporary escape but if she changed her mind about desiring oblivion at least this method she might recover from.

Cadence cursed when she heard her front door knock. She turned with the glass in hand, sloppily spilling some amber droplets to the off-white lino floor.

She walked for the door, imagining a tough stride to express her annoyance at being disturbed, completely unaware that each step was more of a stumble than a march.

She levelled with the keyhole but it seemed smudged because she couldn't quite make out who was there.

Apathetic to the visitor, she slid the chain off the door and opened it.

Gavin Drake stared at her with some mild displeasure as he caught the odour of whiskey.

“Oh good, you're drunk,” he said dryly.

He was a contrast to Cadence, neat, smartly dressed, hair combed and smelling of an expensive but appealing aftershave with a faint whiff of lavender soap.

Cadence, who had propped herself against the door frame, gave him a smile in answer. “And you're not, jealous?” she queried cheerfully.

She leaned sideways as she raised her glass and took a deep sip.

Gavin raised two fingertips to his brow and pressed it slightly before smoothing down his dark blue blazer. “Okay, well I wasn't expecting this but I guess maybe I should've. If I were you, and thank God I'm not, I might be drinking too,” he reasoned aloud. “At least you're classy with your drinks choice.”

Cadence gave him a stony stare, sober she would have been pleasant to him but he would have been pleasant to her too, drunk she couldn't care for pretence anymore.

“You have some balls coming here, golf balls mind, wouldn't credit you with better,” she sneered. “You put the spotlight on me,” she accused.

Cadence took another sip before nodding. “I know duck boy, it was you.”

“Duck boy?” Gavin echoed. He stood with an expression of calm confusion.

“Feathers not ruffled yet?” she taunted. “Too busy ruffling mine before you started hunting season on me.”

Gavin raised one finger as if to ask a question. “Wait a minute,” he interrupted, still calm despite her unpleasant, drunk behaviour. “Aren't I the duck? Why are you getting hunted?”

“Because you squealed, no,” Cadence paused suddenly as she drew herself from the doorway. “You quacked to the press!”

Cadence tried to turn to add theatrics to her accusation but her effort was costly as her legs didn't quite move the way she wanted to and the room spun a little faster than she had anticipated.

Gavin winced as she stumbled and hit the floor, landing ungracefully at his feet.

“Okay, so I figured this might come up eventually,” he said, still tranquil as he stared down at her groaning form, “but you are admiringly inebriated right now, I mean,” he added as he stepped over her and into her apartment, “I am a little envious of your state but I am definitely not looking forward to the call I now have to make as a result of it. My battery's low, where's your phone?”

“Kishen,” she mumbled to the floor.

Gavin reached for her, pulling her to sit upright despite resistance. He dragged her back so that she was propped against her hallway wall and then he closed the apartment door before heading through the apartment swiftly, leaving Cadence as she was.

Cadence, unhappy with her suddenly empty glass, grinned as she heard the loud 'God damn it' that followed as Gavin discovered the state of her phone in the kitchen.

Gavin was frustrated but not thwarted, he moved back through to the living room and spied a second phone resting on a table there. He picked it up and dialled. Part of him didn't want it to be answered but of course it was and he soon found himself put through to the receiver he needed.

“Mr Vice President,” he greeted calmly, “I'm here at Miss McGarry's house as you requested but if you want her to meet with you I'm going to have to advise on something first.”

“What is it Gavin?” John's tense voice quipped.

“Well sir, she's steaming,” Gavin explained calmly, “judging from the bottle in her kitchen she's had about seventy percent of a bottle of whiskey, without any diluting if I'm to go by the glass she dropped in her hall and there's the fact that she's lying in her hallway.”

“What? Jesus Christ,” John cursed.

“I don't think He can help,” Gavin mused. “Sir, do you really want to help her?”

Gavin could visualise the frown he knew his boss was giving the phone right now and he suppressed the urge to sigh. When he heard the lyrics to 'The House of the Rising Sun' being sung down the hall he smiled.

“Bring her to the Naval Observatory Gavin, better I see her there,” John ordered. “Subtly, you know the entrance to take.”

“Sure sir, through the kitchen, I assume security will be expecting us.”

“They will.”

The phone line went dead and Gavin frowned before returning the phone to the hook. He was irritated at being an errand boy but he realised it was a deserved penance. Hell he probably deserved worse and was going to receive it but he wasn't ready to get into it now, not while she was drunk, that was unfair.

Gavin moved back to the hall to Cadence, she was sitting on her knees, upright and singing loudly as she swung her empty glass about.

“Alright Cady, time to go, I've to bring you to the Vice President,” Gavin informed her.

Cadence shrugged and raised her hand to the doorframe to pull herself up. “Well if he's firing me I'm glad I'm drunk then,” she said happily.

“Sure, do you want to change?” Gavin quipped.

Her outfit was alright, Gavin figured it could be worse, hell he had been expecting jogging pants or a dressing gown but instead she was wearing a wrinkled cream shirt with a creased grey skirt and some raccoon slippers that were a little jarring.

“Nope,” she said confidently, “let's just go.”

Gavin winced as she strode ahead of him, fumbling with the door before she escaped out of the apartment. “Do you have keys?” he called after her.

“Sure, doesn't everyone?” she called back as she continued walking.

“Alright then, I asked,” Gavin muttered to himself as he tugged her apartment door shut behind him.

\----

The Number One Observatory Circle had seen many things and many people over the years. It was part of the biggest scam in history, a long-term loan from the navy to the President for his Vice to be housed in until suitable accommodations were bought or built, except they never were. In 1991 the navy finally accepted the truth that Congress was never going to bother to give the Vice President a new home, it was just another way the Vice got screwed, and so the navy had remodelled and repaired the house and accepted that it was now and probably always would be the residence for the Vice President of the United States.

John figured it had probably hosted drunks in it before now, hell Vices had probably gotten merry in it after a stressful day and maybe they had even permitted guests to join them. John didn't want alcohol in it but Suzanne had mocked and vetoed that request, suggesting it would be a sign to their visitors that something was amiss and so he had allowed a small stock of it in the living room. It was something he was regretting right now as it tempted both him and his guest.

The Observatory Circle was so close to the White House and yet so far just like the man it hosted. It came with the security deserving of one in his post but lacked the busy trappings of the President's residency, which was a part of the complex the President worked at. At least for the Vice President work and residence were separate to a degree. This combination of privacy and protection made it an ideal place right now for the meeting John was attempting to conduct. There was also the added bonus of the Second Lady of the United States being out of State on official business.

John stared across the sitting room at Cadence McGarry with a measure of scorn, sympathy and guilt. He was angry that she had turned to drink as a quick fix and obvious distraction but he could understand why and considered it was better than other choices she might have made.

Cadence was leaning forward, almost doubled over the table before her which had a steaming cup of black coffee resting there on a delicate tray with a fresh silver pot, a small jug of cream and a sugar bowl. She had yet to take a sip as the smell was making her nauseous.

There was a napkin in her lap which occasionally fidgeted with, trying with both hands to turn it into to something but what John couldn't tell.

John turned away from her. He had his chin resting on his knuckles, propped up by his elbow resting on his knee. He didn't know what to say or why he had insisted on this.

Gavin had said she was drunk and lying on the floor and John had filled with alarm and knew that he couldn't have her left alone like that but she couldn't be Gavin's responsibility either and John wasn't involving Leo so here she was. He reasoned that it was logic but he knew it was downright reckless of him.

Cadence let out a hiccup and John's blue gaze darted back over to her. She hiccuped again before sitting up and flopping back into the chair. Her blurred eyes rolled over to John.

“Is this the firing ceremony?” she quipped wearily. She looked about with disappointment. “I mean it's nice, nice place, but I thought it'd be at work. Is it different in your...department?”

John turned round to face her again and let his hands rest in his lap. “Cady I'm not firing you,” he insisted. “I told you that already.”

She shrugged. “Been two days,” she mumbled, “and I'm a terror apparently.”

She looked confused before pressing a finger to her lips and miming out 'shh'. “Shouldn't say that, Tom will get mad. Hmm would he tackle me do you think?”

John sighed before standing up. “Cady I'm going to put you to bed-”

“Hmm alright, so it's a farewell fuck,” Cadence retorted with forced humour and a biting smile to match, “what's that, sting with sugar? No um...” She pushed back some of her hair but just sent it into a bushy tangle. “I dun know,” she slurred the words.

“It's not any of that,” John said flatly as he gestured down to her with open palms. “You are out of your mind on whiskey, I'm not going to take advantage of that and you shouldn't think I would,” he scolded her as his voice rose slightly.

John glanced to the closed sitting room door warily. He knew no one should be standing out there but sometimes one couldn't tell with the Secret Service or the workers.

“You got that Texan twang,” Cadence mused merrily as she gave him a teasing smile. “Always gives me a shudder.”

John took a step towards her. “Cady don't,” he begged.

She shrugged. “Not attractive when I'm in trouble, am I?” she quipped.

“That isn't fair,” he snapped as he pointed down at her. “Haven't I offered it several times now? You're the one who rebuffed me. Anyway, we're not having this conversation, not while you're drunk, we're not having any conversation,” he repeated firmly. “I'm putting you to bed with some water and after you've slept this off we're going to talk.”

“Bed where?” she demanded heatedly.

“The spare bed here, we have a few,” he grumbled dryly.

John held out a hand to her.

Cadence accepted it but as she rose she grabbed his other hand with a giggle. “Oh this is naughty but I don't care anymore. Mom shouted at me, Robbie made the papers and she didn't call but this shit hits the fan and she's all over it. Don't matter if I got hit and yelled at and...and watched people die, friends you know, I know, who knows?”

Cadence quivered slightly as tears appeared in her eyes. “I keep smelling the damp and hearing the guns, I don't like the noise, the yelling, the banging, I don't.” She shook her head.

John nodded sympathetically. “Cady why in the hell did you run that far away?”

“I had to,” she said quietly.

“No, you didn't,” he retorted sternly. “You didn't have to run at all, I would've protected you.”

“John you couldn't and shouldn't, stop it.”

Cadence tried to pull away from him but his grasp on her hands tightened. He stared down at her with piercing blue eyes, his face serious but etched in worry. His dark eyebrows crept up his brow slightly as a thrill of alarm danced through him as he realised how deep his concern for this woman went. She was drunk, teasing him and demonstrating that pathetic self-loathing that he despised in people, she was at her lowest and unwillingly at risk of taking him and many others down with her. He should be casting her aside and saying it was business but all he wanted to do was pull her closer and make good on his word to protect her.

“Cady I don't know why you keep going for this solitary self-destruct mode but it isn't happening,” he said crossly. “Now, let's get you to bed, we'll talk more later.”

“John you don't even know the danger I put you in,” she murmured quietly.

The alcohol had her forgetting ranks and statues briefly and for a moment gave her the courage to address John frankly as the man she knew and not be intimidated by his office.

“Me?” John queried with confusion.

“I didn't just leave over a thesis.” The confession Cadence had thought never to make slipped out in a whiskey tinged breath.

John gave her a bitter smile at this and nodded.

“I do know that Cady,” he admitted frankly. “The moment you left me I went digging for the leak, I was determined to punish them somehow because you were gone and things were miserable. Cady I know my luck shifted before you left me, hell I was done the moment Josh jumped ship but I never felt the failure until you left.”

Cadence glanced up at him in silent despair. Her head was throbbing and it was a struggle to meet his gaze but she was determined too despite the blurry haze at the edge of her vision.

“You leaked it Cady,” he said calmly. “You leaked your thesis to the world but what I've yet to work out is why.”

Cadence gave him an unhappy smile. “Can you believe I had something worse to hide?” she queried with false cheer. “Something worse than all this, God it's never ending with me right? I suppose that was the start of it, the trigger point, it happened so I leaked my thesis as a cover and fled to Colombia to escape the popularity of dad's new post and the pain. Somehow I bumbled into the CIA. Bad luck I can't figure and now it's all comin' back to haunt me because I was stupid enough to think I could bury it.”

“Cady, what in the hell drove you from me?” John demanded.

John knew he was taking advantage of her state now but he had waited years for the truth now and he knew that sober she would clam up again and he might never know.

Her unhappy smile wavered in and out of existence.

“You know I think Josh knows about us,” she confessed. “He never said anything but I think he knows. His demanner,” she slurred out another word without realisation, “to me changed one day and he clearly despises me. I'd swear he knows, we weren't careful enough. Oh damn that's an...” She paused and looked confused for a moment. “A double something huh.” She shook her head in frustration. “God damn, with you I felt something John, more than I ever did with Robbie but you were married, I should have never...”

John frowned as his blue gaze filled with alarm at the thought of Josh Lyman knowing about his affair with Cadence. He figured coldly that if Josh did know he apparently wasn't going to use his knowledge or surely he'd have done it by now.

“Cadence, don't tell me my marriage is why you left, that's a lie. What happened?”

Cadence bowed her head and started hiccuping. “Don't...don't...” She gulped out between hiccups.

John sighed. “Cady your secrets all keep coming out and they're doing damage, you can't have anymore.”

John knew he was being a bastard with that line, it was cruel and manipulative but it had the expected result. Cadence confessed.

“I had a miscarriage.”

Four words. John had always thought it would take more than that to shock him. He felt himself turn unsteady and it caused him to loosen his support on the woman.

Cadence broke from him and turned away in grief. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she brought a hand up to her mouth and cried pityingly into it. It was a sloppy expression of grief, ruined by her hiccups and swaying.

John looked at her and felt a mix of emotions- revulsion and anger first for her drunken display in delivering this news and for having kept it from him. The grief swept through him unexpectedly, catching him off guard. An odd sense of mourning for a being he had never known.

John moved for Cadence instinctively. It was an automatic, a gesture given before he could think about it. His arms embraced her close, cradling her back into his warm body, sheltering her there against his torso. He realised through his grief that there was a much worse emotion to consider, one that brought too many complications with it. One he didn't want to voice but as he weaved a hand through her hair and murmured soft, soothing nonsense to her he knew it didn't matter if he voiced it or not, it was still there. Love, a terrible thing that he realised might ruin him.


	21. Revelations

“Leo you can't keep her hidden like some princess in a tower. It's time she faced this!” Jed snapped at his subordinate angrily.

Jed looked to his Chief of Staff with a naked rage. They were standing in the Oval Office and he wanted Leo to act like it, in here Leo had to be the Chief of Staff and nothing else, not Cadence's father.

Leo stared back at Jed unflinching with only a hint of the worry he felt in his blue eyes. “Sir I know but I don't know where she is,” he confessed.

Jed's eyes widened in surprise. “You don't know?” he repeated in a horrified disbelief. “This woman has been accused of helping terrorists by the CIA and you don't know where she is?!” Jed's voice rose an octave as he let his anger slip into it again.

It was as if Jed was trying to compete with the volume of the wind roaring outside. It had been blowing a gale since the early hours of this morning and showed no signs of letting up.

Leo suppressed the urge to sigh. This wasn't his day, hell it wasn't his week or his month. Yesterday he had dealt with Josh, Toby, Sam, C.J then Mal and Jenny with his President sprinkled into intervals never mind all the issues going on outside Cadence. There was a trades bill with Japan to consider, there was protesting in Ohio over a land tax, and the ambassador of France was due to visit next week. Leo hadn't slept and he felt he hadn't really stopped speaking to people either. His one small sliver of silver lining had been Josh telling him quietly this morning that he, Sam and Toby were determined to fight back against the CIA and see Cadence cleared of the implication of their rumours and reinstated as the charitable helper she had tried to be in Colombia. That was of course if it was what the President wanted to do.

Today Jed was going to address his nation about the news his own team had leaked and the news the CIA had countered it with.

“Sir I've been trying to find her,” Leo insisted. He paused as a shadow crossed his face and his mouth creased down. “I'm worried about what she might have disappeared to do,” he confessed darkly. “You know how well she deals with stress,” he added pointedly.

Jed's gaze softened slightly before he could help it. He wanted Leo to stop being a father in here but he knew that was impossible. If it was one of his three girls in trouble, as he had previously alluded to Zoey, he wouldn't be able to be the President anymore.

“Alright,” Jed said quietly. “Where do you think she is?”

“I'm not sure, she's not at home or with Mallory,” Leo admitted, “and she isn't at the Eisenhower either. I'm about to ask the Vice President now but if she's not at work, and she shouldn't been since she's on leave, I doubt he would know where she is.”

Jed frowned at this. “I'll be honest Leo I'm surprised he's standing by her on this, it doesn't do him much good.”

Jed was pacing about, he had an energy he couldn't quite rid of and he knew it wasn't going to end until he finally made his speech.

Leo nodded wearily. “I'm surprised myself sir, John is a good man but he's ambitious too and he offered to go to Colombia because of this which is unlikely to do him any favours.”

“Well I wouldn't be too sure of that,” Jed murmured. He raised one finger and waved it as he made his point. “I mean he could turn things around in Colombia, he would be meeting with the President as well as his Vice. Still, we need him to go, it's the very least we need after this mess. If we don't reach out diplomatically they have every right to consider retaliation, our own men provided their criminals with weapons, there is no denying that Leo. Never mind this suggestion of helping innocent villagers get murdered.”

Leo stared back at his leader curiously. There was a questioning burning in him that he was almost afraid to ask but he figured now was as good a time as any. “Sir, you are making a speech about this today. Are you going to mention Cadence?”  
Jed gave Leo a steely stare as he considered a sardonic retort and made himself swallow it down. There was no avoiding the issue of Cadence McGarry, thanks to Director Wolfe she was plastered across most of the papers.

“I'm going to inform the public of the truth,” Jed remarked firmly, “that members of the CIA did provide cartel members in Colombia with weapons and that the CIA Director chose to release a story about Cadence McGarry to distract from this truth. I cannot state that he was attempting to blackmail us with it, we would look weak then nor can I say much more about it, people will think I'm defending her not because she deserves it but because she's your daughter. Leo, asides from some half-crazed CIA agent we have little evidence for Cadence's version of events. I believe her Leo,” he added solemnly before Leo could interrupt, “I d but I think it's for her boss, the Vice President to talk about, if he will do it.”

Leo nodded agreeably. “You're going to focus on this business with the weapons.”

“I have to be careful mentioning the villagers Leo, the CIA may have had a hand in their execution but it was Colombian soldiers that carried it out. If we want peace mentioning that won't help us and we have only Cadence and this Sparks' word that these villagers were innocent. I have to talk to the President of Colombia first before I make any speech to the public,” Jed retorted bluntly.

“When are you doing that sir?” Leo pried.

“When you find Cadence,” Jed answered. “You have to consider the Colombians will want to talk to her too Leo and her silence is damning to the public, she needs to address them and respond to this story.”

Leo looked noticeably alarmed at this thought. “Sir I don't need my daughter pushed over the edge,” Leo protested.

“Leo she had to expect this coming into the world of politics with this shadow over her, she has to help fix it or she's finished in our world,” Jed replied sternly.

Jed's stare turned sympathetic as he waved his hand down dismissively. “Now I don't want her...doing something drastic,” he chose his words awkwardly. “Leo, I love her like one of my own,” he reminded his Chief of Staff, “but she can't run or hide from this. If she leave us to clean it up then people are always going to have doubt and wonder if she's gotten away with something because she's your daughter. If she faces it head on she'll win more respect so find her.”

“Alright, I'll go ring John.”

Leo turned and exited out of the Oval Office. He walked quickly with a noticeable weight on his shoulders. Jenny had been fierce with him last night, Mallory too but they had both come at him over the phone with a different approach.

Jenny had been snapping that Leo should have never elevated their wayward daughter to such a prestigious job. She had told him that this latest scandal was in a way his fault because he should have known better with Cadence. That had angered Leo, he couldn't understand why Jenny was so tough on their youngest. Cadence had suffered in life, she deserved a break.

Mallory had been angry because she believed her father hadn't done enough to stop the CIA leaking this story. She had also expressed that she felt Leo and Jed should have rushed to Cadence's defence immediately. Mallory couldn't understand why Jed wasn't on the pulpit before the press screaming out her sister's innocence. Mallory was blinded by love and unwilling to consider that such a move might be damning for the President.

Leo understood the real reason for Mallory's rage because he felt it too- guilt. Mallory had no more known than Leo where Cadence had been or what she had gotten himself into and neither of them could understand how they had let something like that pass them by.

Leo missed Mrs. Landingham's look of sympathy as he headed through to his own office.

Margaret bore a more open look of pity and worry for her boss. The redhead's mouth parted to address him but he walked past her too swiftly for an interruption.

Leo stepped into his office, shut the door tightly and dropped onto his seat wearily. He pushed both hands through his fading grey hair and cursed down to his desk. Cadence wasn't the only one at risk of jumping off the edge.

Leo had almost gone for the bottle last night. He was staying in a hotel, it wasn't exactly hard to get to a bar. He had done it too after Jenny's last ranting. Down to the lobby and right up to the counter where any pleasure he wanted was waiting. Sparkling at him enticingly, just a few words and notes away.

Leo breathed heavily as he stared down at his desk. He could see the glass tumbler the bar man had reached out for him and he had smelt that wonderful whiff of whiskey as the barman had started to pour it. Leo had been more than close last night. A flashback of Cadence sobbing in her prom dress had driven it back.

Leo had waved off the barman and the drink. Threw down a note for the confused man's trouble and turned away angrily. He hated himself for being so public about it. He could guarantee the discretion of the hotel but not its residents. So far there had been no murmuring of it, no icing on the cake for the scandal of the McGarry family so he figured maybe no one relevant had witnessed his moment of weakness.

Leo's gaze drifted over to his phone. It was time to call John. Leo wasn't hopeful.

\---

John didn't know what had woken him- instinct, the wind whipping up outside, a flurry of thoughts that wouldn't silence for sleep or the warm body beside him that until a couple of hours ago had stirred repetitively for drunken staggers to the bathroom?

He rolled over to glance at a clock that wasn't there and reminded himself for the umpteenth time that this was not his bedroom. He could only imagine what the Secret Service agents were thinking. He had tried to be discrete about it but the point of the agents was to know where he was at all times. Sure he hadn't noticed anyone noticing him coming in here with a small bundle of clothes and then failing to exit again but he was sure someone had.

For someone whose career might be at risk for a move that could only be considered stupid, John didn't feel particularly alarmed about it. All John felt was woe coupled with sympathy. He sat up in the bed and looked to his companion. She was rigid beneath the sheets and curled up in a defensive ball. He wondered if she was sober yet. He wanted to embrace her but he was afraid of waking her, she hadn't slept much and hell neither had he.

The room was dark but there was a hint of blue at the edges of the window. Morning had broken, John just didn't know which hour of it. He lay back down and turned on his side so he was facing her direction. There were both going to need to get up soon.

John figured to hell with it and he moved closer to her so that he could wrap his arm about her and hold her against him, her defensive ball of flesh cradled in his own. He just wanted her to feel safe because he didn't think she had felt that in a while. He knew this was momentously stupid and he wasn't even getting anything for it. There could be rumours of sex and for once they'd be unfounded, it was cruelly unfair.

He couldn't exactly deny that the desire was there, dishevelled she might be but the rise of the morning wood was still present. John had to admit, if only to himself, he was still a man easily weakened by physical pleasures.

“John,” she murmured softly.

“I'm here Cady,” he assured her. “Just keep sleeping for a bit.”

She moved back into him and he felt her hand reach over his to pull it about her stomach. He hugged her with it and she squeezed his hand gratefully.

John stayed awake feeling the headache that was beginning to bud from both fatigue and stress. He didn't know what to focus on- Colombia was the obvious thought but there was another pushing it aside, Cadence's latest bombshell to add to all the others and somehow it was the one that impacted him the most. He had so many questions about it- when had it happened, how long had she been carrying the baby for, had she known she was pregnant and why had she never told him?

John squeezed Cadence tighter and inadvertently startled her.

She pulled away from his grasp and sat up suddenly, bushy haired with bloodshot eyes and a sallow pallor.

John sat up too.

Cadence's stare turned wary as she turned it to him and reached a hand up to her pounding head. She felt a rush of emotions- guilt, grief, embarrassment, confusion, there were too many to pick just one. She pushed them back as she pressed her palm against her brow in an attempt to relieve some of the pain.

Cadence saw the hurt in John's blue eyes and wanted to take it away because she knew she was the cause. It wasn't often she had seen him looking so openly wounded- sometimes a vicious word from Suzanne could bring it out or a callous dismissal from Jed, waving John off like he didn't matter but generally the Vice President rose above all that and shrugged it off and the armour stayed on and no one got to glimpse whatever annoyance or pain he felt.

Cadence tried to remember how she had gotten here, where here even was and what all she had said to John.

“I'm sorry,” she murmured.

It was a general apology, one meant to cover everything.

John frowned. “Cady we have to talk,” he said, gentle but firm.

Cadence bowed her head to her lap. “Can I go to the bathroom first?” she quipped quietly. “The room's spinning a bit.”

“Sure.”

When Cadence didn't move, John realised she didn't remember her many trips there throughout the night.

“That door there,” he said, pointing to the one on her side of the bed.

Cadence looked up and followed his gesture. She stood up and wavered slightly on her feet as the room bounced before her. She pushed her hair back with both hands and strode wearily forward.

Tired and sore, Cadence didn't bother to take in the generous size of the bathroom or its expensive décor. She noted the marble tiled floor only because it was cold on her bare feet.

Her business done, she took a moment before the large, three panelled mirror. She ran the silver tap, cupped her hands over it and splashed the water about her face before reaching for a white towel of Egyptian cotton. After drying off, she glanced at herself again. Cadence knew she looked like shit and that there wasn't much salvaging it. Her eyes slipped down to the rest of her, pausing at the shirt she donned.

Cadence smiled at the uneven buttoning before giving a groan as her head throbbed again. She had a vague memory of John asking for her permission to dress her for bed. A groan of embarrassment followed this time as she recalled giving a crude answer, giggling and asking if he was going to use his teeth to do it.

Knowing if she lingered any longer in the bathroom John was going to think she was avoiding him, Cadence returned to the bedroom reluctantly. She took a few steps forward before halting to stare over at John awkwardly. She had no idea what to say to him.

“You said we needed to talk,” she said quietly.

John nodded sombrely. He extended his right hand out across the mattress pointedly. “Do you want to sit?” he queried.

Cadence shook her head and winced at the gesture caused another flare of pain through her skull.

John stood upright, pausing to push down his black boxers. “Cady you told me the real reason you quit my campaign and left, do you remember?”

Cadence folded her arms and nodded rapidly. She fought the urge to look away from him, wanting in that moment to be looking at anything other than John.

“Tell me about it Cady,” he pleaded. His intense blue stare was upon her, sad and begging. “Did you know you were pregnant?”

“No,” she said flatly. “It was in the early stages,” she murmured. “I just...I woke up one night and I was in this intense pain.” She swallowed hard. “Even when the blood came I didn't quite work it out, I needed told,” she explained awkwardly, “when I went to the hospital.”

“Jesus Cady why didn't you call?” John demanded.

“Because you were at home in bed with your wife, where you should have been!” she snapped back. “What was I to say? Hey John I was very briefly carrying your child? You were running for President for Christ's sake! And I was finally realising what a shitstorm we'd created. I mean you were just letting off steam with me, fucking your intern on the side to lose some stress, it wasn't serious for you.”

“Cadence cut the crap,” he scolded her as he tensed with anger as a flare of heated emotion filled his eyes. “It was serious for me, it wasn't supposed to be but it was. I told you, I searched for you, I wondered about, hell I looked for the leak of your thesis and found out it was you! I couldn't understand, you hurt me with that, not just yourself.”

Cadence nodded as she dropped her arms by her sides. “That was the point, no one would think we'd had an affair after that and if anyone had noticed I was trying to hide something they would have assumed it was that.”

She fumbled with her hair again and gave John a look of despair. “I was broken John, I didn't know how to feel, I should have been relieved I suppose but I was devastated and I thought about what could have been and realised how stupid I had been. I thought it wasn't serious too but I realised then that it was, that I wasn't think about what would happen when the campaign ended.”

John stepped up to her and she flinched as he reached out a hand to press lightly against the side of her face. “Cady you should have told me,” he addressed her in a firm but quiet voice.

“I should have told you a lot of things,” she murmured bitterly as she bowed her head, “about the CIA, Colombia. I've made such a mess without meaning to.”

“Well we'll fix it,” John assured. “You were doing the right thing in Colombia, you're not getting punished for it and you are good at your job, don't think otherwise.”

“Hmm.”

John kissed her lightly on her crown. “Cady I would have looked after you and the baby if you hadn't lost it. Even if it had killed my career I would have acknowledged it, I need you to know that.”

Cadence kept her head bowed as she felt fresh tears run down her face. “I need to go home,” she said quietly, “before I screw up again by being here and you end up with another scandal.”

“Cadence I make these choices, the responsibility is mine,” John said sternly as he pulled back from her. “Your clothes are on the chair,” he explained as he nodded to the right in the direction of the chair. “If you want to go, I'll get a car sorted for you.”

His hand slipped under her chin and he tilted her head up to him before leaning down for a kiss.

His lips brushed against hers briefly as he kept the gesture chaste. “If you feel on the edge again you call me,” he said seriously. “Don't go for the whiskey, it's a dangerous path.”

Cadence nodded. “I know, I've seen it with my father.”

She glanced over to her clothes and felt a prickle of embarrassment at the sight of her raccoon slippers resting under the chair.

“I have to go,” she murmured, “dad will be trying to get in touch with me soon I'm sure and Mallory. She's rung at least twice a day since this news came out.”

“Alright, I'm going to retreat to my room and get a shower, I'll get the car arranged as well.”

John headed to another neatly folded pile of clothes resting on top of a set of drawers. They were a pair of trousers and a shirt since he wasn't about to throw all discretion out the window and wander the Observatory in his boxers.

It only took twenty minutes before Cadence was in a secure car and on her way home again. Five minutes after that John got the call from Leo. Although he felt guilty for it, John feigned ignorance to Cadence's whereabouts but promised to look into it and let Leo know.

\---

Cadence had figured her troubles for the morning were done but now here she was at half eleven being proved wrong. Her only consolation was that at least her appearance had improved thanks to a hot, soapy bath and a change of clothes. She had found her apartment unlocked but mercifully undisturbed and wondered if Gavin had continued in his fashion of gossip spilling or if he was demonstrating some discretion about her state.

She had barely had time to style her hair before her father appeared on her doorstep, panicked, worried and yet relieved too. The hug he had greeted her with had been a shock and was probably the reason why she was where she was now.

Leo hadn't really had much time to talk with his daughter. He had pleaded with her to come with him to the White House, vowing to explain en route to save time. It was a short journey however and Leo had been brief and vague, realising he didn't have the full explanation himself to give.

Now here she was, in the White House, surprised as she stood before the President in the Oval Office.

Jed was stern faced as he looked across to Cadence and tried to see her as the President and not a father. It was why he had forbidden Leo from coming into the room with her, a decision he knew had hurt his second-in-command, as necessary as it was. It had failed however because he could hear Zoey's pleas and angry outbursts about the matter. His youngest daughter had hounded him about Cadence ever since Director Wolfe had gone to the press. With Zoey's many reminders of all Cadence had done for her, conjuring up fond memories of them as children, it was all but impossible for Jed not to view her through a father's eyes.

“Cadence I've had a very lengthy conversation with President Alcazar,” he addressed in a voice that was forcibly calm. “It's been agreed that the Vice President of the United States will conduct a visit to Colombia to smooth over relations. This will be by offering condolences for the unnecessary loss of Colombian lives and an apology for the actions of a few misguided American citizens in an unsanctioned act of violence. There will be no mention of war or betrayal,” Jed added firmly.

The President paused to give Cadence another look of scrutiny. She was rigid but calm and holding his gaze, knowing more was coming.

Jed placed his hands behind his back and tried to muster some warmth into his blue stare. He knew that her foolishness had come from fear and he believed she really had been ignorant in her knowledge of the CIA's deeds but ignorance was sometimes hard to forgive.

“Cadence you are to go as well,” Jed informed her firmly, “but not as John's P.R. The Colombian President had agreed to publicly thank you for your charitable work on the condition that there is no more talk about Colombian soldiers killing innocent villagers or mysterious packages on planes.”

Cadence felt the roof of her mouth turn dry with Jed's words, there was an uneasy jolt at the mention of thanks and then a roll of nausea at the mention of the plane. She sensed the lie that was coming before Jed even voiced it and it filled her with sorrow and rage.

“You have to apologise first,” Jed informed her, “for unwittingly becoming involved with a minor fraction of Colombian villagers who themselves were involved with acts of treason to their government. Providing this happens publicly, on Colombian soil, there will be no mention of terrorists and the Colombian government will support that you knew nothing about what the villagers were up to and you were there to help impoverished villagers.”

Cadence swallowed the lump building in her throat as rage mixed with shock. She didn't think today was going to be such a whirlwind of revelations and emotions and it was hard for her to know what to feel.

“Sir it's not true,” she said flatly.

“It is,” Jed remarked sternly, “as close to the truth as we are getting because the actual truth makes everyone look bad and there is no proof for it save for the rambles of our mad Agent Sparks,” he added hotly.

The agent was still very much a problem point for him, he was out of Director Wolfe's grasp but under the guard of the FBI whilst undergoing psychiatric evaluation. Jed wasn't sure it was much of an improvement for the unstable man.

“It is a very small price to pay for peace and you will understand Cadence that it took a lot for me to secure this arrangement,” Jed informed her. “We are now having to lower our taxes for the importing of Colombian goods, which will boost trade for them.”

Cadence nodded solemnly but it was still hard to swallow the news as once more she heard gunfire ringing in her ears as people she knew died.

“And after sir?” she pried.

“After?” Jed gazed at her in surprise. “If you and John get us peacefully to an after all I hope for is that he reigns in his ego the next time he speaks to his counterpart of another country and that you have no more surprises of what you were up to on your gap year.”

“You don't want me to quit?” Cadence queried in surprise.

Jed shook his head. “Asides from the fact that my daughter Zoey would make my life unbearable, Presidency or no Presidency, and my wife too, Abbey sends her compliments on your bravery in Colombia by the way and her admiration for your work down there,” he added gruffly with a nod. “Cadence, you are good at your job, which doesn't always please me, I can admit I share a certain discomfort seeing a man who was for so long my rival earning popularity with the people, even though he's on my team but that's my personal problem. Frankly, John doesn't deserve you and if were so dumb as to let you go I'd have to insist on a space being made for you on my team.”

“Thank you,” Cadence said sincerely.

She was trying to express happiness but it was hollow as she didn't feel it, she couldn't even feel relief. There was just a strong sense of survivor's guilt, an awful feeling she had tried to quash since escaping Colombia. She could still recall the names of the villagers that had died, which made it all the harder to think how she had to betray them now.

“What about Director Wolfe?” she pried quietly.

“Much as I would love to see that man in prison it doesn't appear likely to happen,” Jed grumbled. “There is a lack of evidence and we are agreeing that the villagers were involved in acts of betrayal against their government, how they paid for that and who made them pay is not for us to voice. There is also the issue of him presenting four agents to us who were supposedly trying to eliminate a potential terrorist threat to American soil, one of whom was tortured for it.”

Jed frowned and looked to his desk briefly before looking back to Cadence. He hated that the truth of the matter was he had no real say in Director Wolfe's fate. Oh sure he voice an opinion and they would nod along to it but in the end the CIA would, as it always had, do whatever the hell it wanted in the matter. Jed imagined Wolfe would be ushered into an early retirement with some financial incentive, hell maybe they'd even send him off with a reward. It was disgusting but the rumours and tales made his and his agents' status murky. To some they were traitors and to others they were heroes.

“And Agent Sparks?” Cadence pried. “Can I see him?”

She studied Jed's face, trying to spy a reaction to her question. She didn't even know if she wanted to see Benjamin Sparks, it was more than she felt she had to see him.

“After Colombia,” Jed retorted, “if he is able. I don't know much about his current situation,” he added bluntly before she could ask. “Physically he is stable but mentally he is not a well man.”

Cadence nodded again as she felt fresh guilt and sorrow.

“One more thing,” Jed added firmly as he pointed at her, “you can't travel down with John, not directly. You can go on the same day and follow behind but we're making it clear you're going to represent yourself, you're not there as part of the Vice President's team. He is to make his, that is the American government's apologies separate to yours.”

Cadence tried to keep her emotions in check as she digested this latest piece of information. The thought of travelling back to Colombia was unbearable but to do it without someone familiar was a little too daunting. She made herself nod anyway, knowing she had no choice in it.

“I'm going to make my speech to the press today on the matter,” Jed said. “Then, tomorrow morning I want you and John to head for Colombia. This matter needs ended.”


	22. Probability

“I got Senator Ferguson to change his view and support the President on his reform to the tax policy regarding higher earners,” Josh announced.

He took a moment to gaze around the hallway he had stepped into and frowned as no one bustling about it reacted to his news.

“I also got him to favour the President introducing a policy for former strippers to come work weekends at the White House too,” he called a little more loudly.

Donna walked past him with a careless smile and without a look to him answered. “Oh better tell Sam his friend can come here scandal free then.”

Josh pointed at Donna with a grin. “Ooh ha ha, very good Donna, so someone is listening to me!”

“Yes Josh,” she retorted as she continued to walk, clutching a small collection of files close to her chest as she did, “but there's listening and then there's caring.”

Josh's frown returned as he pushed a hand through his mess of curls.

“This is big news Donna, important news!” he called. He lowered his hand and looked about the corridors to the other West Wing employees with exasperation. “Colombia isn't the only thing happening in the world people!” he announced crossly.

When no one answered him, Josh headed pointedly in the direction of Sam's office with a scowl.

Josh pushed open the door to Sam's office without a knock or even a courtesy inward glance.

“Sam, why do people hate me?” he quipped nonchalantly with an expression that suggested he didn't care.

Sam gazed up from his computer screen to Josh with a vaguely startled expression. Until Josh had barged in he had been engrossed in his work.

“I don't know because you don't knock?” Sam suggested sardonically.

Josh folded his arms as he frowned down at his friend. “No, that's not it,” he retorted with a shake of his head. “It's something to do with this minor business of our VP visiting the Colombian President, isn't it?”

Sam leaned back in his chair and stared up at Josh tranquilly, accepting that his peace wasn't going to resume.

“This minor business is to avert a war,” Sam reminded Josh, “and I think it's less to do with that and more to do with Cadence McGarry's visit to Colombia.”

“Ah full title Sam, have you finally seen the light?” Josh quipped mockingly.

Sam frowned this time. “You know I'm referring to the only title she's allowed to use on this visit,” he said quietly with just a slight hint of scorn to his tone.

Josh's eyebrows rose slightly at Sam's tone. Certainly Sam could have his moments of outrage but usually it was shown in an almost comical quick talking fashion that could rival Josh's wild displays of excitable rage in terms of eccentricity. The only time recently Josh had heard of Sam expressing some truly frightening rage was when he had found and fired the leak of Leo's addiction story, a young woman Leo had seen reinstated to post shortly after.

“Sam it was the President's decision and the right one,” he insisted as he slackened his arms and finally pulled the office door closed. “She's going to apologise for working with people accused of treason, she can't do that under the office of the Vice President.”

“I don't see why not,” Sam snapped, “given the Vice President is offering apologies for the actions of a few CIA agents.”

Josh sighed. “Sam, the Vice President hasn't been plastered across the media accused of working with terrorists,” he reminded him. “A charge that is only going to get dropped after Cadence apologises. After that she can represent the Vice President again, if she and he are really going to risk that,” he added in a displeased mutter.

Sam stood up with a look of anger. “Damn it Josh, it's not safe for her travelling there as a civilian and it's not fair!”

Sam glanced up to the clock on his wall, it read 09:00, Cadence's flight had been at 07:15 and would be there for approximately 11:45, D.C time. It was a long flight for someone terrified of flying to make on their own. Sam had checked the weather three times over last night if only so his reassurances to Mallory that the flight would be safe sounded more sincere.

Josh was taken aback by Sam's tone and found himself angry at Sam's anger.

“Sam think about what's she done,” Josh retorted moodily, “and all while being the daughter of the Chief of Staff, an employee of the Vice President, and being in the company of the President.”

“What has she done Josh?” Sam snapped. “She was there doing charity work or don't you believe that? Agent Sparks supported her story, he admits they scapegoated her, more than that, they lied to her, deceived her, intimidated her, hell they might have even killed her if they didn't want to exploit her connections to the White House.”

“She should have told us,” Josh retorted as he attempted to maintain his calm, “or never taken the job with Hoynes.”

“Vice President Hoynes,” Sam corrected hotly, although he was reluctant to give the man his title today. Sam didn't think Hoynes had fought hard enough for Cadence, believing that if he had she would be on the same plane as him.

“No one here would have believed her,” Sam retorted, “and even if they had, she feared the repercussions and not just for herself Josh, she was thinking of Leo too.”

“If she was thinking of Leo she wouldn't have taken the job,” Josh grumbled.

“He wanted her to,” Sam reminded him, “and she was only trying to start again. Why doesn't she deserve that Josh?”  
Josh clenched his fists as he shook his arms slightly.

“Sam this is what gets you in trouble,” he accused as he pointed at him with one finger. “You think we live in a society where people will just ignore people's deeds for their better nature and that's not how it is. You thought because you and Laurie were just friends that people wouldn't see a scandal there and you think because Cadence is talented and intelligent that she should have a free pass too but there's scandal with her and it keeps coming up. Why should we sink with her? Everything Leo worked for, everything he's overcome in office and you think it's fair that he might lose it because of her?”

Sam frowned across the office at his co-worker. “You and I didn't forgive Leo for his drinking and his pill addiction because we agreed there was nothing to forgive. You didn't ask why didn't he turn down his job at the White House knowing that he had that scandal in his life. You didn't try to step back and let him fall on his own, both of us stood by him and insisted that we always would. The President stood by him. Never was Leo delegated to anything other than Chief of Staff during this. So why is it different for Cadence, Josh?”

Sam sat back down again as he felt some of anger give way for tiredness.

“That's why everyone is mad at you today,” Sam concluded calmly, “we can't understand your logic.”

Josh was silent as he looked down at Sam in surprise. He didn't bother with a response, he just nodded and exited the office again.

\---

C.J didn't know how to feel about today. There was a lot to get through but all the press really cared about was one topic- Colombia.

Toby had wound her up with his constant mutterings and pacing about as he had grumbled about his fears over how the Vice President might offend his Colombian counterpart this time.

C.J knew she didn't want that. Much as she had enjoyed seeing Hoynes' smugness take a blow as he was put in a scene of discomfort and embarrassment, it wasn't good for the country or the President. She wished him only good fortune on this trip so the matter could finally be put to bed. C.J disagreed with Toby's fears knowing that Hoynes had a way with words when he didn't let his temper take over. She hated to admit it but the man was charming and charismatic and she believed he would be able to make his apology sincere enough for the President of Colombia to abandon thoughts of offence.

Cadence McGarry was another matter entirely. A loose cannon wasn't a dramatic enough description of her, although it was one Danny had cheerfully joked about using to describe her in an article. C.J had frowned at him but voiced no real anger. Danny was one of Cadence's few genuine supporters in the press room. He said he liked her stubborn spark and ability to continually keep going no matter what she seemed to get hit with.

C.J just didn't know the woman well enough to have an opinion on her one way or the other. She certainly seemed a headache for Leo and a boon for John, at once both a nightmare, wayward daughter and an ambitious and talented employee. C.J of course wished her success too for Cadence's sake and Leo's, as well as the good of the country of course.

The White House Press Secretary sat in her office feeding her goldfish Gail as she took what she had thought was a much needed break. Now, as she kept glancing at the clock and waiting for news of John and Cadence's arrival in Colombia, she realised she wanted distraction.

She was very much relieved when her door was knocked.

“Come in,” C.J called.

The door opened and her assistant Carol looked in with an apologetic smile. From behind her Danny lingered with his own wide grin.

“C.J, Danny's wondering if you have a minute,” Carol said.

“Sure,” C.J answered. She tried to quash her excitement by looking pointedly to the clock. “Just a minute,” she insisted a little more firmly.

Carol nodded as she stepped back from the door and glanced back to Danny. “All yours,” she murmured.

Danny gave a soft laugh at the irony of the statement before he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

C.J held both her hands up to him before he could talk. “Danny if you're here for an insider's scoop I can't help with that. I know as much as you about this Colombian business and I'm still waiting to hear if they've arrived.”

Danny nodded as he continued to offer C.J the warm, harmless smile he usually gave her. “Okay.”

“Separately that is,” C.J added, “assuming you want to know about both the Vice President and Cadence McGarry, what there is to know, which at the moment is nothing,” she babbled, “and if it were something I couldn't tell you anything.”

“Okay.”

C.J dropped her hands to her hips as she gave Danny a look of exasperation. “Danny why are you here?” she quipped.

“To say hi.”

C.J raised her copper-brown eyebrows slightly at this. “Just to say hi?” she queried dubiously.

Danny nodded. “We're all in for a busy day today, I wanted to take the chance while I had it. Hey after, what do you think about dinner?”

C.J's arms moved to cross in front of her chest. “With you?” she demanded.

“Sure.”

“I think we don't need anymore suggested scandals,” she scoffed.

“C.J, it is allowed for us to date,” he reminded her.

She nodded. “I know but I don't have the time to date, I don't have the time for friends or a social life of any kind,” she insisted.

“C.J do you eat food?” Danny quipped calmly.

“Of course,” she retorted as she almost rolled her eyes at him.

“Then you have time for dinner,” he reasoned.

C.J sighed as her hands slipped back down to her hips. “Is that really all you came for Danny?”

Danny's smile widened as he nodded. “Yes. Although, you won't mind if I stay for the briefing, someone said it might be important, something about Colombia, can't imagine what that is,” he said teasingly.

C.J frowned but her eyes shone with amusement. She appreciated the journalist's show of humour as it relieved her from some of the stress she was in denial about having. “Alright Danny.” She waved him off. “I'll be getting that confirmation call any minute soon I'm sure.”

“So, dinner?”

C.J shook her head. “Not tonight, I envision a long working day.”

“Okay.”

Danny turned to go and C.J stepped forward before she could help herself.

She grabbed him, lightly by his shoulder to turn him back round. She was in his space, close enough to breathe on him and lean down for a kiss.

Danny should have resented the intrusion but he didn't. He'd offer a meagre protest sometimes that she couldn't keep grabbing him and dismissing him on a whim but truthfully he felt with C.J something was always better than nothing.

The kiss was passionate and rushed, the one personal drama C.J allowed herself at work. That little sliver of romantic wish fulfilment she could permit in a life otherwise stale of dating. She didn't know how Sam managed it with Mallory, where either of them fit the other one in with their hectic schedules and she wondered and worried about what they, Sam especially, sacrificed to accommodate that precious time together. It was easier for them C.J reasoned, Mallory was often a guest of the President at fancy functions meaning Sam could join her and call her both date and work. C.J and Danny did not have such a luxury, sure they both attended similar functions sometimes and for Danny it was work too but if he and C.J were seen to be making a date of it so publicly the scorn and scandal would ruin it. There would be outcries of the press secretary showing favouritism or being unprofessional. All blame would come to C.J's door and she knew it, blame the woman, a poor cliché.

“C.J,” Danny's soft voice drew her back from her thoughts.

C.J pulled back from him reluctantly and released his tie, which she had unintentionally loosened. She blinked slowly before looking down at him calmly. “Yeah?”

Danny smiled, knowing her amnesia stare well now. C.J didn't acknowledge it in herself but she had a quirk for the approach of hiding from things that she didn't want to deal with, often preferring to unnecessarily stress herself about probabilities than finding out the reality.

“C.J I'm going to go now.”

“Alright Danny.”

“I'll see you at the briefing.”

“You will or there won't be one,” she retorted jokingly with a smile.

Danny gave a brief chuckle at this before he headed out of the office.

C.J waited thirty more seconds before slumping back against her desk with a noise that was less a sigh and more a breath of contentment.

She was still tingling with a rush of excitement when the call came two minutes later.

“C.J,” it was Toby.

“Yes.”

“The Vice President arrived as scheduled,” he informed her in his blunt, professional manner. “He is at President Alcazar's quarters. They're going to broadcast in an hour. With luck and some prayers and miracles,” Toby grumbled cynically, “the Vice President will make the nation's condolences and the office's apologies and President Alcazar will accept them and everything else is a P.R visit.”

“And Cadence?” C.J queried.

“Hmm? Oh right, well she should arrive an hour after, couldn't risk her overlapping with the Vice President. I think some member of their government is going to meet with her and see her escorted.”

“You think?” C.J demanded dubiously. “Toby this is Leo's daughter,” she reminded him in a serious tone, “the daughter of the White House Chief of Staff. It doesn't matter that she doesn't go as a part of John, that is the Vice President's party, her status as Leo's daughter remains. Did she fly alone?”

“No,” Toby retorted in annoyance, “of course not! Leo sent her with protection, private, hired from his own pocket so there's no suggestion of her representing the White House either. She'll make her apology in the afternoon or evening, depends on when President Alcazar has scheduled that. We're not making a thing of it C.J, we just want to hear him say he understands she didn't know the villagers she was assisting were traitors and that's it, that's Cadence McGarry in the clear.”

C.J frowned. “Toby you do believe her, don't you?”

“I believe it doesn't matter C.J,” Toby retorted hotly. “What matters is what the people think, Colombians and Americans. Focus on Hoynes' meeting and speeches, he's the Vice President, Cadence is a civilian.”

C.J's frown remained. She felt the word 'civilian' was a little dangerous, it seemed akin to 'disposable', 'replaceable' and 'unprotected'. She felt the same fears as Sam for Cadence for a brief moment before assuring herself that Leo wouldn't allow his own daughter to come to harm.

An odd pang went through C.J as she considered the truth of that. Cadence had been harmed in Colombia before but by her own people and Leo had, had no knowledge of it to stop it. Well the CIA were exposed and all the agents involved were here now and even the ones not involved had had to pull out from the country given recent events so Cadence was safe from them.

“C.J did you hear me?” Toby demanded.

“No Toby, I heard civilian and thought isn't that what we all are?” C.J retorted icily.

“Yes C.J, we are, protected civilians of a certain status but still civilians,” Toby answered with a certain sense of snobbery to his words. “Now, we have one hour to prepare before President Alcazar goes live with Hoynes.”

“You said that already,” C.J reminded him.

“We have to consider all the ways this could go wrong.”

C.J smiled. “Toby he won't do it twice,” she reassured.

“We don't know that,” Toby retorted anxiously.

“How does the President feel about it?”

“Confident.”

“Good.”

“Confident he'll ring Hoynes' neck if it goes any way other than stellar,” Toby muttered. “His words not mine, don't repeat them, I shouldn't have.”

C.J couldn't quite stifle her laugh at this. “Okay Toby, look, are we watching this together?”

“Yes, you, me, Sam and Josh in the Roosevelt Room. Leo will be watching with the President,” he added.

“Alright, I'll meet you there. Do you want me to bring the popcorn?”

“Ha, ha,” Toby retorted dryly.

“Hey I'm serious, I'm hungry,” C.J replied.

“Be there in thirty minutes, we won't have much time after it to discuss our reactions so I want to go through a list of all probabilities beforehand.”

“Right Toby, see you then, bye,” C.J retorted as she just about resisted her urge to groan at him.

C.J ended the call before Toby could use up anymore of her valuable time with probabilities.

She wondered how their counterparts in the Eisenhower were coping since, for a rare change, it was their man making central news today. Was their press secretary Jeremy getting bugged by Cal about considering negative and positive outcomes?

C.J pictured Jeremy and doubted it. Jeremy Rolston was passive and that was the point. After Hoynes had chewed up and spat out so many, too many, press people, the President had gotten fed up, fought with him about it and Leo had solved it with Jeremy.

C.J wondered who had gone with John to Colombia and realised she had never enquired. It was something she'd have to remedy quickly in case the question came up with her. She was guessing Gavin Drake and maybe Sandra, with Cal left in charge of the Eisenhower affairs.

Figuring Toby had ruined her break with his time limit, paranoid ranting and a dismissal of Cadence that C.J found a little jarring, the press secretary decided it was time to abandon the sanctuary of her office and the company of Gail and get ahead of things as much as she could.

\---

The meeting between Vice President John Hoynes and President Alexis Alcazar went ahead as scheduled. There was a slight delay with the feed as it was live but the image was clear and the audio perfect. It ran as part of a news segment as the pair stood side by side on podiums addressing the Colombian government's press pool.

They stood outside in an open planned foyer of an extravagant looking building with pale yellow brickwork and an assortment of rich, green, large leafed plants that Josh was adamant were there to hide the fans.

C.J could practically feel the humidity oozing from the screen and admired how neither man seemed to break a sweat as they spoke to a crowd of reporters who oozed the uncleanliness of heat.

John was calm and pleasant. When he offered his condolences for the unnecessary loss of Colombian lives he was appropriately sombre and his eyes were full of grief as they looked directly at the President. He was candid and humble too as he spoke of regret and apologies for the actions of a few Americans acting without orders and of their own accord to bring violence between two otherwise peace loving nations.

Josh watched the interview with pride and a sense of admiration for the Vice President. Feelings he was always conflicted about having for John. Today the man had done them proud, delivering a speech that Sam and Toby couldn't have done better at, a speech Josh believed John had probably wrote most if not all of. Sure Leo and the President had probably been stern in their instructions over what should and should not be said but John would have chosen the words ultimately.

The handshake that followed was good but President Alcazar pulling John in for a pat on the back and loose embrace was gold. The few members of people outside the press who had been permitted to witness the event in person, clapped and cheered enthusiastically at the gesture.

Josh was relieved to see the event end on such a high although the sceptic in him wondered if and how Cadence could possibly undo or ruin it. He was grateful her status of civilian meant her meeting with the President of Colombia would not have such pomp or the presence of press or an audience.

Toby was just as sceptical as Josh but for other reasons. He wondered if a lowering on the tax of Colombian goods and an apology from Cadence were the only prices they would pay for this sudden show of friendship. Probably he was wrong but there was always the possibility that he wasn't. Toby tried to weigh up the probability of them being given another price to pay in his head, wondering if the Colombians would risk a nasty surprise on home soil.

Sam and C.J both opted for optimism and smiled.

“Can I go and address the press on a positive note then?” C.J queried happily.

Toby nodded and waved her off. “Sure.”

The probability that this day was going to shift from good to bad was unlikely but both Toby and Josh were weighing the odds anyway.

Josh glanced at his watch. Cadence had to be there but there was no word yet as to when she would speaking President Alcazar.

“You know this place would look better with an aquarium,” Sam mused. He was standing now and surveying the room.

“What?” Toby stared at Sam in confusion. He remained seated at the table.

“It used to be the fish room,” Sam attempted to explain.

“Yeah Sam, I know that,” Toby cut him off bluntly.

“I just think an aquarium in it again would be nice,” Sam mused. “Cadence mentioned it used to have one.”

“Sam, focus,” Toby pleaded. “The day's good, we need to hope it will stay this way.”

“It probably will Toby,” Sam retorted with a bright grin, “don't worry.”


	23. A Hellish Day

It was one hour of time, that was all. There was a loud, heavy, repetitive noise and a feeling of damp. One hour, what was that in the pond of life? A droplet? Panting, breathing? Cadence McGarry couldn't focus on it, she didn't want to. She had lost an hour of time, that was all.

There was a ringing noise too, like static, was a television on the wrong channel or a radio on the wrong frequency? She shook her head in irritation wishing it would go away, how could she think otherwise? Except she didn't want to think, she welcomed distraction. Only the pain was coming now and she couldn't stop it. There was that heavy noise now, raspy, frantic and with each shift of it she felt a tightness in her chest.

One hour.

Sixty minutes.

Short, simple, what was that, one programme, two maybe? That was all, two episodes of a sitcom.

It had been longer last time but there had been darkness then too and damp. She shuddered, an awful smell of damp that she couldn't get rid of. This was a different kind of damp, two strains really, a hot, painful one in certain spots of her body and a larger, sticky coating of it that suffocated her skin. Sweat. That was one strain but the other, the one that she associated with pain, she didn't want to think too hard on it now.

Cadence tensed suddenly as she felt cold metal against the left side of her skull and immediately came rushing back to reality with it.

The heavy noise, her own breathing she realised, stopped momentarily.

“Remember what we agreed,” the voice of a masked man addressed her. He spoke in Spanish knowing she understood it. “You go and you make your pretty speech of apology, we're not entirely satisfied you have paid for the deaths of our people but we won't ask for more, you have your reminder now.”

Reminder? Reminder. Cadence felt the hot, searing pain in her side and she clenched her fists and blinked hard. The vomit came in a rush before she could help it. There was the sound of wet splatter as it projected outwards across the van.

Yes, she remembered she was in a van. She remembered part of that missing hour and tried to shrug it off again. If she delved into the memory she would fall apart and she couldn't do that. She had something else to get through.

“You don't make your speech and we're not satisfied at all,” the voice warned, unperturbed by her vomiting.

She heard the click of the gun and swallowed down a whimper. She'd heard that sound before. She jolted slightly, again and again as the memories of gunshots ran through her mind.

She nodded. “Okay,” she murmured weakly.

Had anyone else noticed her missing hour? What of her father's men? Were they conscious yet? Were they free? She couldn't remember being jumped. There had been something about the driver and the supposed government official who had greeted them. Gas in the car? They had been knocked out somehow. She was only relying on some stranger's word that no one had been killed. That and the fact that she was still alive told her that these weren't terrorists or cartel. Of course the possibility of who they really were or who they were working for might be much worse.

She had to hurry, the speech had to be done before anyone learned what had happened to her, that was what they wanted. Then, when her father's hired help was found unharmed they wanted it all played down. They had warned her, no one could think she was beaten into an apology. Well she hadn't been, that was true. No, they just didn't think her apology was enough, they had wanted more.

Well she should have expected that people here just like at home were now thinking she was either a terrorist or, perhaps worse, in league with some CIA agents and she doubted the Colombians cared whether the agents were corrupt or not.

They'd roughed her up a little, a few bruises were people wouldn't see them, a mark she could hide from the world but not herself, that was all, penance, punishment, she probably deserved it. They wouldn't believe she'd suffered before this, well she supposed she'd done a good job of quashing the nightmares and memories of what had happened. Yes, on the surface she'd just gotten on with her life, gotten a good life in fact that absolutely no one thought she deserved. The masked men were angry to see her strutting about in the White House, some foreign political idiot coming to slam their innocents as traitors. Yes, she could understand their rage, she felt it at herself. She didn't want to tell the lies but even before this confused chaos she had been determined to. Lies to save herself? No, it wasn't so simple. She was trying to save her father and John's reputations as well, to honour the deal the President had gotten for her and to try and save Agent Sparks too somehow.

Cadence knew if she went against the plan and refused to let the President of Colombia tell her she had been unwittingly helping traitors and started telling the truth and slamming the CIA as the real traitors then it would be war. Never mind her career would be in tatters and potentially Leo's too but the White House would be accused of a cover-up, Jed and John might be pushed to step down, there might be an impeachment. Every day there were risks to weigh up, dark decisions to make and less than legal doings to silence and this was just one more.

That thought made her feel sick. Knowing this was not only how the world worked but how it had to. It made her have an understanding for the masked people who had abducted her today to show her a little retribution for the things she had done and would do. They didn't know the truth either, they blamed her for the villagers' deaths, she was American, to them she had to have been a part of it somehow. That was the one thing they had in common with everyone else, no one believed her innocent.

Cadence swallowed hard and winced at the taste of vomit. She should have expected it really. It wasn't that bad. It was only one hour. These masked men weren't cartel and it could have been them, they could have come to silence her for talking about whatever deal they had had with the CIA, a deal she didn't actually have any knowledge of but how could they know that for sure? A deal about a box on a plane? She shook that memory away, it was vague and the President had ordered it to forget it.

These masked men were either a few outraged members of the public or hired thugs of the government. Actual rebels wanting vengeance for the fallen or government soldiers making sure she wasn't going to consider voicing truths about Colombian soldiers and CIA agents. She didn't know, they hadn't divulged. Her side was burning again but she knew she had to ignore it to get through this. She was just lucky no one had decided to silence her as a liability yet she couldn't help but wonder if she was really better to everyone alive than dead.

They had wanted her to feel a little pain and humiliation and some fear too because a speech wasn't going to cut it. She could understand. Hell, if they were locals, when they heard the mention of traitors from their President she could only imagine the rage that would follow.

Her fingers tapped on the floor of the van nervously. She didn't want to be paying a price for that too.

The door slid open and the flash of white sunlight caught her off guard, blinding her temporarily. In that moment someone grasped her arm tightly and pulled her out roughly. They didn't want to shove and send her to the ground so she was dusty. She had to look nice for the cameras so the interview, speech, interrogation, hell she didn't really know what it was, but it had to go ahead.

Her hand brushed against an imitation of silk as she tried to stay upright. She thought about what was underneath, the stains they had adverted and how it was just as well she'd worn a dark shirt. No, she couldn't go there. The sloppy bandage underneath felt rough against her skin. God how odd it was to be bandaged up by the people who had hurt her, people careful to see that her wounds were hidden.

She wanted to scream, to cry in pain and let people know what had happened but she heard gunshots ringing through her mind and suddenly there was only ringing and a wretched smell of damp.

\---

Two hours ago

John's speech was done. He was meant to be done for the day, dismissed to enjoy the hospitality of the Colombian government before some PR styled banquet tonight. Everything that followed his meeting with President Alcazar was just going to be a show of relations for the camera. He wasn't even going to be dealing with the President anymore, he would be back to his counterpart, the detestable Vice President Joseph Rojas.

John considered if he had been in Rojas' shoes during their previous, humiliating meeting, he might have acted similarly. If it had been anyone else in John's shoes that day he might have even admired Rojas' passion and unrelenting stubbornness but as it had been John and he had been the one embarrassed and scorned because of Rojas' arguing, well John couldn't help but despise the man.

John was on the grounds of the  Palacio de Nariño, the Colombian counterpart of the White House. They wanted him to look at the art and gardens and voice praises about it later but he couldn't care less. He was done charming and making amends. He sat in a large room with a fine, mahogany table lined with large chairs, padded with stiff, dark maroon leather and silver studs. Art adorned the walls, three extravagant pots sat on the table filled with fresh flowers and the room was full of an odour of Spring. The idea was that it came from the flowers but of course, fresh as they were, it didn't and it wasn't Spring anyway.

John sat away from the table on a pale yellow couch against the wall, legs crossed with a haggard expression on his face. He'd been here for twenty minutes, flanked by Tom Sedgewick and three other agents whilst others stood outside.

Gavin had came and went, Sandra too. Easy on the eyes Sandra, who had attempted to ease John with smiles and not been impressed with his empty eyed stare and blunt dismissal. John didn't even know why in the hell he had relented to the President's demands and let her come, he wasn't going to use any of her speeches.

John was waiting, as he had been, for news on Cadence. He was irritable because he knew she had to be in the country now but no one was confirming it. President Alcazar's head of Public Relations was meant to be sending a representative to greet her and escort her to Hotel Rey Sol in Bogot á where she would be able to get ready before being escorted to here to meet the President in a televised meeting in an area with no onlookers.

John had already gone against protocol. He had voiced sternly to President Alcazar that he would be there. He had promised to stay out of frame, a quiet observer but he was determined to be there. He loathed what he had already agreed to, letting Cadence fly here by herself had been cruel, letting her travel alone with no job title and no afforded protection from any government personnel was reckless. He got that Jed was pissed with her and preparing to cast her off if she got this wrong but why in the hell was Leo going along with it?

John clenched his fists slightly and sighed. Leo was going along with it for the same reason John was. It was Cadence's only chance to salvage her reputation and career. It was their only chance to avert war, screw over Director Wolfe and his lies and save face with the American people. Jed was right to send her here as a civilian making personal apologies and not grand ones on behalf on the state, she hadn't been a member of John's team when she had been down here doing charity work. It was mountains and mole hills. If she came as part of the Vice President's team and thus an extension of the President's team then her innocent mistake was the White House's mistake and they couldn't have that.

The door knocked and the attractive aide who had been delegated or perhaps demoted to be essentially little more than John's maid for the day, stepped into the room. She was tall and slender with a mane of ebony hair and bright eyes of honeyed-brown. She smelled of rose perfume was a master of sweet stares that promised more.

John wasn't immune to her much as he wanted to be and he knew that whilst she might have been hired for her intelligence she was assigned to him for her looks. No, the Colombian government weren't so crafty as to be hoping to create some fresh scandal with him, it was just the simple stereotype of a man feeling better when he had attractive company. John knew it and it had him giving a bitter smile as for a brief moment he despised himself and his gender for being weak to such cliches. Yet the scent of roses did calm him better than whatever false flowery aroma filled this room.

“Sir,” she greeted the Vice President with a nod and a humble stare, “you've been here a while, can I get you anything? Food? A drink?” She lifted her dark eyebrows slightly at this, an unspoken confirmation that the drink could be something a little stronger than tea or coffee.

“No thanks Solange,” John dismissed her. “I just want to know when Cadence McGarry is here, can you let me know that?”

John offered up his own charming smile and a bright gratitude slipped into his blue stare. “Please,” he added softly even though it had been the third time he had mentioned Cadence to this woman.

She gave him an empty, bright smile in response and nodded.

John knew she wasn't going to tell him shit until someone gave her permission to and he felt his anger rise again. Hell he wanted that drink now. Something to calm his nerves. His flight here had been calm, bump free, and probably pleasant for everyone who wasn't him. Had Cadence's been the same? It wouldn't matter if it had, she had previously been in a plane that had been shot down, no calm weather was going to banish that fear. Shot in this county for God's sake and they'd made her fly here alone to face that fear again.

Had she come medicated? She would have had to but then too much and she'd make a fool of herself before President Alcazar. Well maybe the medic would have told her the correct dosage this time or prescribed only that instead of giving her the chance to take too much.

John wished again that he had defied orders. Even if he couldn't have been on that plane with her or she on his he should have sent someone with her- Gavin or Jeremy.

“Are you sure I can't get you anything Mr Vice President?” Solange quipped. Her voice was smooth, pleasing on the ears with a nice little ring of respect to it.

Solange's voice sent a minor thrill of pleasure through John. God he wished he could quash the ego in him now that always had his libido rising when some pretty woman called him by his title with that hint of admiration and awe. That more than anything was a turn on for John, to have someone impressed by his rank instead of putting it down like his wife always did or talking to him like he was lesser as C.J had done in the past.

“It's a very humid day,” Solange continued with the idle conversation, “I could get you any drink you like, it's not a problem.”

Humid. John bristled at the reminder of the climate. Yes it was humid but the air con in this room was good and with it he could avoid feeling the suffocating heat of the air. His throat was dry however, probably because of that same air con and he realised he was thirsty. He met her golden-brown gaze and knew water would sound like a weak answer to her.

He was on edge and he knew it, too on edge. If this had been any other kind of circumstance he'd be on the phone to Leo or another member of their poker club for some sort of reassurance. He felt his fingers sinking in the arms of the couch and knew his tense appearance was becoming obvious.

“No thanks,” he forced out the words.

Solange nodded. “Well let me know if you change your mind or need anything else sir, I won't be far.”

John smiled to convey gratitude but there was a glint to his stare that suggested he wondered what 'anything else' might entail.

John needed a distraction of some sort, this waiting was a psychological torture he was in no mood for. He wondered if they would bother to get him to witness Cadence's conversation with President Alcazar or if they would conveniently 'forget'. He could almost taste that drink now, vodka, that was the easy choice, clear, bit of ice, no watering down, just throw it back and get smashed.

John had talked about his last drink being in his college years but it wasn't quite so. There was wedding number one to Josslyn von Meeks, an arranged marriage if ever there was one in a democratic modern day world. It was before John had come into money in the oil business, Suzanne was the lucky wife for that fortune. Josslyn had been a pain in the ass from day one, John had gotten smashed the night before his wedding, then again on his wedding day and his wedding night, all to try and blur out the horror of the event. He could still see Josslyn angry eyed in her wedding gown, sitting on the edge of the window sill with one leg crossed over the other as she swung her foot loudly against the wall below, knowing the headache it caused him.

Josslyn had never liked John either. She had fucked his best man on their wedding day and John knew it. He'd stood in the shadows sipping at a glass of whiskey, watching as they tried to squeeze in a quick bonk in the closed up dining area against a table. John had awarded their performance with a dry applause before departing for another drink.

The memories invoked no rage for John, only a desire for something to help with the horrors of today. He stood up and gave an angry edged smile as the previously slack agents became taut again, ready to follow him.

“Gentlemen I just need the toilet,” John announced as he fixed a warning stare on Tom. He didn't want an escort.

Tom nodded even as he raised his wrist to speak to the agents lingering in the corridor outside.

“Hawk is coming out, dog walking,” Tom conveyed quietly.

John pulled a face at the nickname. Jed got Eagle or Liberty depending on the feeling of the day and he got Hawk, the lesser bird and, to his knowledge, he was yet to even be worthy of an alternative.

John headed out to the corridor wondering where Solange had gotten to. He saw her halfway up the corridor, her derrière bouncing with each step, flattered by the grey skirt she wore.

Solange heard the door opening and she paused and turned back with a smile.

“I'm just going for a bathroom break,” John informed her as he smiled back. He walked towards her, pausing with a moment of feigned confusion. “Of course I'm not entirely sure of the direction.”

He was but screw it, he needed something else to think about other than alcohol and failed relationships.

Solange's smile brightened. “I'll show you sir,” she said reassuringly.

John held a hand up as he heard his Secret Service team ready to follow. “Gentlemen, it suggests a lack of trust in our Colombian counterparts if we check out areas they have already secured and I'm sure the bathroom isn't far, is it Solange?”

Solange shook her head. She gestured ahead. “Just round the corner and we do have our security there,” she added with a smile of reassurance to the Secret Service agents.

They were expressionless in answer but John could sense their annoyance. He didn't care.

“Give me a few minutes gentlemen,” John ordered, “I need it.”

He turned and headed off without waiting for their response. He heard one follow, knowing they would be determined to keep him in sight to a degree.

Solange led them round the corner and up to a door with a gold plate informing them it was the Bathroom in Spanish. Not Toilets. John wondered about that, where the public toilets were, well this would be a lot more secure anyway.

There were two Colombian guards nearby in the corridor but they didn't pay much attention to John or Solange.

Solange offered John a smile and a chance at temptation.

“Sir, the lock to the door can be a little tricky, would you permit me to show you how to secure it?” she quipped innocently.

John's smile widened at the transparent excuse to accompany him into an otherwise private room. It was a cute pantomime for his agent and the Colombian guards.

John nodded. “Sure, wouldn't want to cause a security risk by accidentally get stuck in there,” he joked.

John opened the door and gestured her in. A show of chivalry at a bathroom, it was laughable.

Solange stepped in and John followed. Mercifully, the Secret Service agent made no effort to follow. If he gossiped fine, John had his cover story thanks to Solange, weak as it was.

The door shut and Solange made a show of showing him how to slip the latch down by turning it three quarters of the way. It was simple.

She went to turn it back to release it and John's hand suddenly slipped onto hers, halting the gesture.

The young woman looked up at John curiously and here lay the danger. Had John been reading the signs right or would she cry out sexual harassment?

Solange smiled as John's blue eyes roamed over her, taking her in and wondering if he was going to do anything.

Another possible scandal, shit it was stupid. Cadence was coming and even if she'd shut him out physically John couldn't really think it was fair to push his urges onto someone else. He realised that it wasn't even about those urges, it was about distraction. Colombia didn't give him the distraction he had hoped for from Cadence and her miscarriage, how could it when Cadence was coming here and thus right at the forefront of his mind? He couldn't shake her news off, hell he couldn't shake her off his mind much as he and she tried.

John released Solange's hand and stepped back with an apologetic look.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

Solange nodded. “Can I help you with anything else Mr Vice President?”

John felt the tension again as she sounded out his title. He put his hands into his trouser pockets in an attempt to restrain himself and shook his head. “No, please let me know when Cadence McGarry is here,” he insisted.

Solange nodded again but there was an irritation in her honey eyes and John knew she had been offended.

Solange left but John didn't bother with relocking the door. He headed to the sink, it was pearly white but not the cheap porcelain of a public toilet, marble instead with a large vanity mirror of silver in a gilded frame. The bathroom was beautiful with more potted plants and artwork on the walls but John didn't take any of it in.

All John saw was his own stressed reflection, lines at his brow, an edge to his blue stare. Hell he still needed something and if he wasn't having Solange then all that was left for him to consider was that drink. He glanced at his watch but he couldn't fathom how long he had been waiting.

John turned on the cold tap and let the water gush for a moment before cupping his hands and splashing it over his face. Vice President of the United States. What did that mean here really? Nothing.

John turned off the tap, pushed the water about his face in an attempt to cool it and ruffled his dark hair slightly with it. He stepped out of the room and headed back to his temporary quarters. He saw Solange lingering in the corridor still, this time engaged with Gavin.

“Get me that drink please,” John ordered bluntly, “whiskey, vodka, I'm not picky, just make sure there's lots of ice.”

Gavin, who had snapped to attention at John's arrival, looked at his leader with apprehension and a little worry. John should be ecstatic right now, he had done wonders with his interview and everyone was happy, so why wasn't John? Gavin knew what it had to be and it annoyed and worried him. Why was John always so concerned about Cadence McGarry?

Solange nodded. “I'll get it for you now sir,” she retorted before heading off.

John paused before heading back to his confines. “Will someone hurry up and find out where Cadence McGarry is?” he snapped loudly to the corridor. “Now God damn it!”

John headed back into the room where Tom and his subordinates remained.

\---

Cadence had another hour forgotten. Her arrival to the President of Colombia's work and living quarters, the meetings and greetings, frowns and murmurs. A rush to clean up her state just a little, a run through with security. She had went to the toilets and almost broken down there. She had splashed water on her face as if she could wash away the nightmare and pushed back her hair in a vain attempt to tease its humid, frizzy state into something a little more appealing. Get the meeting over and down with. She had been greeted and questioned by people she didn't know. No one was asking enough questions about her missing escort.

Frowns and queries. Impatient people rushing her on. She couldn't take in their faces or voices properly and moved on auto pilot, giving one worded answers to their questions. She was late. The President wanted this over and done with. Of course he did. She did too.

Someone had eventually asked about her people but her ears had been ringing. They're right behind me, a slow answer, a dumb answer. The expectation was that her hired guards were safely back at the hotel she had never been to except maybe a token agent who had accompanied her here and was on Palacio de Nariño grounds. That was what everyone decided had to be the case so it didn't matter what answer she gave. She realised when they had been asking it had been a token question of politeness. No one cared about her foreign party of hired guards. She was in the presence of Colombian guards now, she was secure, that was all they really cared about.

She kept sniffing, trying to banish the smell of damp as she walked with her right hand clasped tightly about her waist. Her eyes were wide, shocked and yet empty. She nodded to questions without answering them.

Some people muttered about heatstroke, anxiety or maybe jet lag. They were making excuses for her.

Water? Yes, no, she might choke on it, not right now.

Suddenly she was there, ready to begin the meeting. They were sitting in a courtyard on quaint, irn cast chairs with padded cushions at a matching round table laid with a fancy silver jug of water and two crystal glasses. It was still bright with the sunlight, caged birds were chirping, and ivy and hanging vines offered an exotic backdrop to the table and seats they occupied.

President Alcazar was seated opposite her with a smile.

Their first greeting had been brief and untelevised as they had exchanged their brief hellos and occupied their seats. The live show started with them already seated. They had opened it with her greetings, her thanks and her complete humility. There was a camera rolling out live, its red blinking light a warning to Cadence not to slip up. There was a lone reporter too with his own photographer, photographs only for him. The reporter would have been hand picked by someone on the President's team of course, one loyal to the government.

Cadence didn't take in anyone else, her eyes were on President Alcazar only. He was a kindly looking man with iron grey hair and a matching moustache, dressed in a pale brown suit and giving her a grandfather's smile. It was a persona of course but she was ready to welcome it anyway and end this hellish day. If he had any secret knowledge of her earlier plight she didn't want to know. She realised she didn't care who the masked men had been as long as she never had to see them again.

Cadence was numb as she spoke, holding back emotion as she said what they all wanted to hear. A last she was the dutiful daughter, employee and government servant, singing the tune for her President that would promise peace and an end to smear campaign against her. She explained she had visited Colombia before to carry out charity work with some villagers. She had praised the beauty of the country and said some empty words about its architecture.

The President had smiled at her with sympathy. He had informed her quietly that the villagers she had visited had turned out to be rebels to the government but of course she couldn't have known that. She was the dumb tourist on some silly stereotypical trip to find herself with acts of kindness. They understood, everyone understood.

There was no whiff of terrorists or the CIA to their conversation.

As agreed, Cadence showed her shock at what the villagers were and apologised profusely for any unintentional role she might have had in helping them. President Alcazar accepted her apologies before dismissing them as unnecessary, she hadn't known, he understood that. He thanked her for considering Colombia for her charitable deeds and trying to do good amongst bad men.

The latter comment had stung Cadence to the core, it was hard to resist the urge to protest against the remark that the villagers were 'bad men'. She might have squirmed but the pain running up her ribcage kept her restrained. She was slouched in her chair, demonstrating a poor posture she was unaware of, it would be dismissed as fatigue and a reaction to the climate.

Cadence felt the same exhausted pain she had felt with the CIA when she had finally signed off on their lies. She didn't care anymore for the rights of the dead and as much as it sickened her she was ready to let the lie stand because she was bone tired of the grief it had caused her and she wanted it to be over and she knew the truth wasn't going to help them anyway. She couldn't absolve the dead, no matter how often she might scream that they were innocent there would be too many others to refute it and she was done now, she had to think of the living- her father, her President, her Vice President, Agent Sparks and herself, all people she could help with the lie. It wasn't even as a minor as them, the truth could start a war, she had to think of peace and let the lie pay the price for that.

The meeting concluded. They shook hands again and she felt President Alcazar's revulsion for her sweaty palm although he kept it from his face. She knew he wouldn't be speaking to her again.

The camera had stopped rolling.

The President stood and gestured for her to leave first.

Cadence finally felt a small sliver of relief. The day was a blur but it was done now. Even the meeting she had only just concluded seemed a little confused in her head. She knew she had said the right things but she couldn't of the words she had used.

Cadence stood too and started walking knowing she just wanted away.

Her torso started screaming in pain immediately. She didn't even feel herself fall, rather it was as if the ground rose up to smack her in the face instead of her dropping to meet it. The ringing in her ears was too loud, the world was spinning again and that smell of damp wouldn't go away.

“Jesus Christ!”

The drama was amplified as the Vice President of the United States, who wasn't even supposed to be there, broke ranks from his Secret Service agents and bolted from the edge of the courtyard to run to the woman.

John had come as the meeting had headed for an end, Gavin had learned Cadence was there and let him know what others had 'forgotten' to inform him. He had arrived and been forced to stay stoic and silent lest he ruin Cadence's efforts to make amends.

Gavin watched with wide eyes, immediately regretful of his decision to be honest with John and tell him that Solange had let it slip 'the American woman' was meeting the President in the courtyard.

The minor audience watched in a quiet, confused surprise as John reached the woman everyone had been trying to keep from him today. He crouched beside her, one hand brushing against her sweat soaked brow as he attempted to pull her upright. He cradled her in his lap as his blue eyes swept over her with worry.

“Cady,” he called to her, “Cady talk to me.”

Her tired eyes rolled up to him and she gave a weak smile as tears slipped out. “I'm so sorry,” she murmured.

John's hand pressed against her shirt and he felt the bandage below. His eyes burned with curiosity and confusion. “Cady what happened?”

Tom was suddenly animated, running to John and shouting instructions into his wrist. Something about a breach. Cadence's private security had finally gotten in contact with someone who mattered and delivered their frightening news.

The confusion swept around like wildfire. Everyone was animated, the Colombian guards and the American Secret Service fought to surround their clients whilst shouting angrily at each other. The Secret Service wanted John up and moving, they had to get him secure first and then they would figure out what in the hell had happened.

John wasn't moving without Cadence however.

“Sir we need you on your feet,” Tom ordered as he moved to John.

Tom remained upright, half turned to John but looking outwards warily.

John scooped Cadence up in his arms prompting Tom to glance down at him.

“Sir,” Tom addressed him in exasperation, “someone else can carry her.”

“No.” John's answer was firm. “She isn't leaving my side for the rest of this trip,” he vowed.

John got her sideways in his arms as he stood up at last.

Tom figured grimly that maybe the woman could be a shield for the Vice President, a morbid thought he wouldn't dare voice. He was hoping it wouldn't come to that, it shouldn't, hell from what he was hearing she'd been the target anyway not John. It was why he needed them apart however, she could be endangering the VP by being with him.

Cadence didn't hear anymore, she blacked out and was relieved for it.

\---

John didn't think he could feel anymore rage but now he was almost blinded with it. It had taken a long time to get any kind of story about what had happened to Cadence out of people. Her private security hadn't much to say. Two men had arrived at the airplane claiming to be from the President of Colombia's Chief of Staff's team, a representative and a driver. They had escorted them to a car and Cadence and her team had gotten into it. Everything was murky after that.

Cadence's security team had awoken in the car unharmed, still at the airport and unaware of what time had passed. All they had known was that they had been knocked out somehow and that Cadence was gone. They had tried to communicate with the airport security but suspicion had proved to be a bigger barrier than any language issues.

They had been forced to get public transport from the airport to Bogotá whilst attempting to make contact with someone could get out an alert. As they were privately hired agents from America, they weren't exactly preferred for or used to trying to track down politicians and their aides in foreign countries.

What had happened to Cadence in the meantime was the issue because she was determined not to discuss it. President Alcazar had offered his doctors, police and soldiers to John and his people and had conveyed horror and embarrassment over the incident. His head of security had suggested that maybe it was as a simple as mistaken identity or that they were targeting what appeared to be a wealthy tourist and not Cadence in particular. John had had to swallow down a lot of rage at those excuses.

Cadence had suffered a few abrasions and bruising to her torso, punching one doctor had speculated but the worst was what the bandage concealed. It was a mark, a deep cut that looked like a T but its meaning was unclear to anyone. It wasn't large but it needed cleaned and re-bandaged.

Talking and arguing amongst the Colombian guards and the Secret Service agents had followed. President Alcazar was afraid of how it looked that an American visitor had been kidnapped and wounded in his country, especially since it was one who had been coming to see him.

John, outraged that the incident had happened at all, was eager to punish the President for his inability to keep Cadence safe. John had grumbled about let this incident go public but of course Cadence wasn't going to let that happen.

Cadence had informed John calmly and quietly that she couldn't take anymore scandal to do with Colombia, that she needed it to go away and that he had to tell everyone she had fainted in the courtyard only because of the heat and that her brief disappearance mustn't be public. She had pleaded with him, mumbled that it hadn't really been that bad, more of a shock than anything else and that he could tell people she had simply gotten lost for a brief period. She insisted the matter was done and begged for John to let it lie so they could have their peace.

Cadence was certain she'd be blamed for it all somehow, that people would twist it and even suggest she'd instrumented the incident for sympathy or to make herself look innocent in the light of terrorist accusations. It was all far-fetched but John could see how the media at home just might run with rumours of nonsense like that.

John figured Cadence was also either terrified of a reprisal from her attackers or still in shock, either way he wasn't letting it go.

Now John was on the phone expressing his rage to his own President. While he made the call, Tom reluctantly remained by Cadence's side in a nearby room. John had refused to negotiate on the matter, it wasn't enough to have a Secret Service agent with her, it had to be Tom, he was the best they had in Colombia.

“Jed this is on your head,” John snapped down the phone. “You sent her here unguarded and she was able to be taken and hurt.”

“John don't forget who you're talking to,” Jed admonished him in a frosty tone.

“You don't get your title, not today, you weren't acting like a President when you withdrew hers and offered up as a civilian, easy pickings for anyone,” John continued to admonish him.

“John I'm not clear on what in the hell happened,” Jed snapped back. “I saw her meeting, it's hard to believe something like that happened before it. Can I talk to Cady?”

“No sir you cannot,” John answered bluntly. He pushed a hand through his sweat soaked brow and sent his hair upwards with the gesture. “She was taken, kidnapped almost right off the plane, then she was hurt, beaten and cut before they left her here.”

“John I'm told she walked through the doors without a word of worry or complaint, and that she's a little bruised and confused, and that's what our agents say. They also say, and the Colombian President seems to agree, that this might have simply been an opportunity to try and rob a rich tourist.”

“You know that isn't true!” John interrupted angrily. “They didn't rob her and why would they leave bruises on her ribs and mark her with a knife? How did they know where to leave her? Why let her go at all? You know that isn't true!”

“I know if it becomes public that Cadence was kidnapped and beaten before meeting the President of Colombia it looks very bad for both sides,” Jed retorted. His tone took on a heated edge. “I know John that if Cadence was kidnapped and beaten on Colombian soil then all I can think of doing is sending all my soldiers down to hurt them because they hurt someone who is family to me but I cannot make rash decisions based on personal feelings. I know until Tom spoke to me and promised ten times over that she was alright I was ready to dial Admiral Fitzwallace and make a call for armed troops to go and get you and Cadence and end any form of peace with Colombia.”

“Well then why in the hell did you send her here like this? Don't tell me that wasn't a rash decision,” John accused.

Jed fell silent momentarily. “John I worried about you too,” he added sincerely. “You're the Vice President, you're a target everywhere you go, they could've been after you as well, how could I be certain they weren't?”

John felt an awkwardness at this declaration and he chose to ignore it.

“You tell Leo about this,” John muttered, “and see what he says. He's just as culpable and she's his daughter, he'll want war too. Jesus!”

“John I want to talk to Cadence,” Jed ordered. “I want to hear from her what happened.”

“She's not talking,” John grumbled, “because she just wants it all to go away. She's terrified of reprisals and not just from them but from you, Leo, the press, the American people. She wants back to being my P.R person, no clouds of CIA and Colombians over her. I want to bring her home Jed, right now,” he added firmly.

“Alright John,” Jed sympathised. “I want her safe too but I need to hear what happened.”

“You can talk to her in person then,” John snapped.

Jed sighed. “John do you want war over this? Do you want C.J telling the presses what happened to Cadence, that she was kidnapped by some unknown people, held for a short time, hurt a little and released right at the doors of the Colombian President's quarters? It sounds like a PR stunt John, there'll be suspicion and accusations all over again. You don't want that for her and neither do I. I don't know what the hell happened John but we don't need it public. More importantly, we need to ensure you can all come home safe. I agree, bring her home now but that's it.”

John frowned. “First flight out of here,” he growled.

“Fine John. I'll talk it over with President Alcazar, we'll agree to keep this quiet and he'll make sure you all come home quickly, quietly and safely. We'll say things had to be cut short because of business. Another thing John,” Jed added more quietly, “I do agree I was wrong to send her separately from you. You're right, I put her in danger doing that. Now, get off your pedestal, call me by my title and let go off your rage, it isn't going to help fix this.”

“We'll see you soon Mr President.”

John ended the call and exclaimed another curse. He knew he needed a drink,  another drink he realised with a guilty pang.


	24. Family Home

Tom Sedgewick knew he had to turn a blind eye. His boss, Ron Butterfield, had told him during training that it was the “unofficial duty”. Secret Service agents had to see what was crucial, to spot the oddities in normality that might spell danger but they also had to consider discretion and disregard what wasn't relevant. For the President they tried to be literal shadows sometimes- ever present but quiet and nonintrusive. For the Vice President it should have been easier, he didn't require as many agents on him but this particular Vice seemed to make things harder. Tom wasn't willing to believe that President Bartlett had as many risky run ins as Vice President Hoynes did.

Currently they were on Air Force Two, a Boeing C-32, being chartered from Bogotá back to Washington D.C. They had departed just after five p.m., it had been a rush to prepare for the flight as John had been as good as his word and pushed to leave the country as soon as possible.

Tom didn't know what agreements had been made nor was he fully aware of what had happened to Cadence McGarry. Her private security hadn't been able to say much save that they had been knocked out somehow in a car and woken up to her gone. Kidnapped seem the obvious suggestion but by who or why, Tom didn't know. There was now an emphasis that the story had to be that she had just succumbed to nerves and the heat but the Vice President's frown and tense, biting tone when voicing this suggested he wasn't agreeable to the obvious lie.

John had left Bogotá on public good terms with a brief farewell, which had involved smiles and handshakes with both the President of Colombia and his Vice in front of the paparazzi but it had been a hurried job. Tom felt it was merely a price John had to pay but what for he wasn't certain.

Right now Tom knew his client was safe and since he couldn't go anywhere too far for the next five hours, Tom could relax a little and have the Vice President out of his visual. Who the VP was secure with, Tom was choosing to turn a blind eye too.

John's striking blue eyes shifted up briefly to give Tom a serious stare that was edged with fatigue. The lights on the plane remained bright and highlighted the grey, sweat sheened pallor the Vice President had taken on. His mouth was pulled down in a frown, his hair was in an untidy ruffle of blossoming curls, his navy jacket was off and his white shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbows. It was the most vulnerable Tom had seen the VP.

Tom just gave his charge a brief nod before walking down the aisle of the plane to find a comfortable seat.

John reached for the glass tumbler of clear liquid on his left and took a sip. He could tell everyone it was water and tell himself that he'd more ice cubes in the glass than anything else but the strong, sharp sting of vodka was unmistakable. It hit the back of his throat and trickled down to barely ease the edge he was on.

He sat the glass down quickly as the form on his right shifted slightly. John glanced over to his half-hidden companion, Cadence McGarry, kept mostly from view by his own form and almost lost beneath a blanket and John's jacket. John felt bad having her on the window side but he wasn't quite ready to throw all subtlety out the window by having her close to the aisle and in full view of anyone who happened to walk past.

He pushed back some of Cadence's fair hair before resting his palm lightly against her cheek. She was warm to the touch but nothing to draw concern. Her eyes were closed and he imagined it would be a while before they opened. A doctor had given her strong painkillers, the kind to induce drowsiness which John hadn't objected to given it was probably better she took the flight home asleep if she could.

John withdrew his hand before leaning slightly against her and closing his own eyes. He was exhausted and he didn't know what he was going to do when they arrived home.

The flight was quiet and calm but the airport they landed in was unsurprisingly a little busier. John wasn't surprised to see the stretched black cars waiting outside, hell he wasn't surprised to see the collection of Secret Service agents and police clustered about them either.

The Vice President was looking a little more together as he stood to escape the plane. He had taken a few minutes in the bathroom combing out his hair and fixing his shirt and tie. He finished his glass, his second or third of the flight he wasn't sure, and turned his attention to the bleary eyed woman attempting to compose herself.

Cadence caught John's probing stare and held his jacket out to him with one hand.

John was reluctant to take it but he knew it would only lead to unpleasantness if he let her walk off wearing it. He accepted it calmly and put it back on, pausing to smooth down a few wrinkles.

“There's a bathroom just ahead,” he said as he pointed forward with one finger, “and to the right. We can wait a few minutes if you'd like.”

Cadence deliberated it only for a few seconds before nodding and standing. She shifted past John, tensing slightly as she brushed against him.

John gripped her right hand lightly in his own and gave it a quick squeeze before releasing it just as swiftly as he'd grabbed it.

“Cady you really frightened me today,” he confessed, “when you fell I didn't know what to think. That's not going to happen again, all of this is being put to bed and no Central Intelligence Agents are going to cause anymore grief for you.”

Cadence gave a tired nod, too fatigued to attempt any protests or arguments. She headed to the bathroom, which was unsurprisingly larger than the average airplane toilet, and felt a rush of nausea coupled with a wave of heat.

Cadence grasped the edges of the sink with both hands for support before reaching for the cold tap with one hand. She let the water gush briefly before cupping her hands under it and splashing it about her face. The coldness was a shock that did little to relieve her but instead induced a sudden burst of vomiting.

She barely made it to the toilet bowl before the vomit came up. She sank to her knees in time for the second mouthful as the heat came rushing back to her face and brought a dizzying headache with it. She let out a yelp of pain in between heaving as her ribs protested the pressure of vomiting.

The sobs followed as someone started banging on the door rapidly.

Cadence fumbled for toilet roll as she tried to get herself under control again. She snatched off a few sheets and wiped at her mouth with them as her ribcage continued to jolt up and down as she tried to quash the sobs of pain and anymore vomiting.

She flushed the toilet and used the edges of the bowl to drag herself back to her feet again. With effort she turned back to the sink, washed her hands and then cupped one hand under the tap and used the handful of dribbling water to wipe round her mouth.

Cadence opened the door to the confused face of Tom.

“Are you alright?” the agent quipped. He knew it was a stupid question but he had to ask it.

Cadence gave him a faint smile. “Just swell,” she murmured hoarsely before stepping past him.

Cadence stayed where she was and glanced down the aisle wearily. “Can I wait here?” she queried, her voice still hoarse from the vomiting. “We're going out this way anyway, aren't we?”

Tom nodded. “I'll tell the Vice President you're ready to disembark,” he retorted.

Tom headed back to John who was standing, waiting for Cadence with a worried look, which he banished at Tom's appearance.

“Sir, Miss McGarry is ready to leave,” Tom informed his boss. “She's standing outside the bathroom,” he advised.

John nodded. “Alright, let's go then.”

John let Tom and two other agents walk ahead of him whilst two followed behind. He could hear Gavin's muted voice somewhere in the background, talking quietly with a colleague.

John kept his focus ahead until they reached Cadence. He stopped beside her and took in her appearance quickly.

“Let me walk behind you sir, please,” Cadence pleaded quietly.

John frowned but he knew she was right, if she walked beside him it was creating a press opportunity. He nodded and kept walking wordlessly.

Cadence was ready to fall in line with the others until Gavin stepped towards her and offered out the crook of his arm. He gave her a harmless smile.

“You've been through a lot, you deserve some help,” he murmured.

Cadence gave him a cool stare. “You helped me fall in the first place,” she reminded him heatedly.

Gavin didn't flinch at the accusation, instead he nodded calmly. “And I'm prepared to fall on my sword for it,” he admitted. “I'll tell the Vice President tomorrow what I did but let me help you off the plane.”

Cadence sighed, she was too tired to start an argument and knew she would struggle to get down the steps on her own. The painkillers had faded and her ribs were screaming in pain. She slipped her hand into the crook of Gavin's arm and allowed him to escort her out of the plane.

Outside the evening was cool and full of noise and lights. The red and blue of the security vehicles flashed steadily whilst their owners lingered near them impatiently, ready to escape the chill of the night and retreat to the warmth of their cars.

Cadence froze up as she picked out one familiar figure in the group.

Leo McGarry stood on the tarmac with wide eyes as he stared up at the metal steps waiting impatiently for his daughter. When he spied her his anxiety only seemed to worsen. He turned to an aide beside him and snapped orders before turning his alarmed stare back up to his daughter.

“Come on Cady,” Gavin urged quietly.

They descended the metal stairs with minimal effort, laboured only by the mild breeze that brushed against them sending ties flapping lightly in the air and unsecured hair about in a tangle. There was mercifully no hint of press or anyone outside White House personnel and security.

“Cady!” Leo broke the ranks first, unable to help himself as he moved past the Secret Service and towards John.

The Chief of Staff paused as if only noticing the Vice President as he came into his shadow. He glanced up to John and gave him a grey eyed look of gratitude.

John, feeling the exhaustion of his trip creeping up on him, simply nodded at Leo.

Leo moved about him and his personnel impatiently as Cadence and Gavin cleared the final step and reached the tarmac.

Cadence was like a stunned rabbit as she stared up at her father, at once uncertain and afraid of what would happen next.

Gavin released her and took a subtle step back as Leo moved forward briskly.

Leo grasped his daughter in a fierce hug, pulling her close against him as he embraced her with both arms.

“Cady I am so sorry,” he murmured rapidly as he closed his eyes and continued to hold her close. “I really am.”

Cadence wasn't ready for the embrace or the apology and she trembled slightly in her father's arms as she felt another sob threaten to creep up. She despised it. For so long now she hadn't had any control over emotions and she was desperate to slip back into that cynical, sometimes snarky, demonic persona Josh so eagerly assigned to her. There was a wince too as fresh agony flooded through her and it was all she could do to swallow down the whimpers of pain.

Leo pulled back and held her tight by both shoulders as he studied her. He could see the hurt and exhaustion in her eyes but what worried him more than that was the uncertainty lurking at the edges of her irises coloured with a wild fear. Robbie's death had almost drove Cadence to her own, now so soon after relieving that again she had been subjected to so much more.

“Cady I've got a room booked for you in my hotel next to mine, you can get a hot bath or shower there, room service, whatever you need and Mallory is going to stay with you too,” Leo informed her quickly.

Cadence shook her head as she pulled free from Leo's grip. “No,” she said quietly, “I just want to go home.”

Leo gave her a look of dismay. “Cady come on now,” he urged her gently, “it might not be safe for you there. Let me do this for you, I'll get you whatever you want brought there.”

“No,” she protested a little louder with a shake of her head, “please dad, I'm tired, just let me go home and sleep there.”

“Cadence I can't do that,” Leo objected, “the press are liable to torment you there and how can I keep an eye on you there?” he queried, betraying some of his real concern.

“I don't care!” Cadence snapped as anger seeped into her eyes. “I've done enough of what you and everyone else wants, I want to go my home and sleep!”

John turned to the face the pair, giving Leo a haggard look as he did. The rest of his staff were looking everywhere except at the Chief of Staff and his daughter, of course they were more than a little obvious about it, with some even attempting to converse over the argument as if they couldn't hear it.

“Leo,” John addressed the Chief of Staff in a sharper tone than intended, “for God's sake let her go home. With all your wealth can't you afford some private security for her? More than a few token guards this time,” he added bitingly, alluding to Colombia.

Leo narrowed his gaze as he offered John a frown. “All due respect Mr Vice President this isn't your concern,” he retorted quietly in a stern voice.

“With all due respect Leo, it is” he answered in a low voice as he gave Leo a serious stare.

Leo's frown deepened and his gaze darted over to his trouble daughter and back to John again. He sighed before giving Cadence an apologetic look.

“Alright Cady, have it your way,” Leo gave in, “but Mal is staying with you,” he added sternly as he pointed at her with one finger.

Cadence shrugged. “I haven't got a spare bed,” she murmured.

“That is hardly going to stop your sister and if needs be I'll get one sorted,” Leo replied. “Now, let's get you in the car.”

Leo reached out a hand to her.

Cadence accepted the hand and allowed her father to escort her over to the waiting black stretch. She gave John a fleeting glance over her shoulder before vanishing into the car.

John watched until she ducked down into the car and felt an odd sense of unease when she was lost to him. He figured grimly it was because he didn't actually trust Leo to take care of her. It wasn't really fair given Leo was her father, as well as the Chief of Staff and a very wealthy man who could afford to get whatever protection and help she needed. Yet he was also the man who had agreed to sending her to Colombia titleless and alone, letting her travel on a plane by herself when he knew she was terrified of flying, and sending her into the bowels of a country with a reason to be hostile to her with no real support. Leo had to live with his decision but so did Cadence.

John shook off his emotions as he allowed himself to be escorted to his awaiting car. He gave a smile to his aides that was meant to be charming but was laced with bitterness. Who was he to have fanciful thoughts of protection and devotion? Cadence was his mistress, hell she wasn't even that, a former stress relieving fuck that had fled from him before it could get complicated. Except she'd fled too late because it was already complicated and he'd developed feelings for her without wanting to and had been devastated by her departure.

The problem was John was still married and despite recent events he had no desire to throw off the shackles of marriage or make any public declarations of love for this young, complicated woman. No, he still valued his ambitions and career too much for that and yet he knew he wasn't going to stop thinking about Cadence until he saw her again.

\---

Cadence had no sense of time when she arrived back to her apartment. It was dark but that was all she was certain of. She let Leo and Mallory usher her up and she let them argue over the security and whether or not Cadence needed food despite her refusal. Mallory won most of the debating of course and was quick to take charge of the small household.

Cadence couldn't really recall getting ready for bed, she had been robotic getting washed in the bathroom, avoiding a much desired bath over a need to preserve the bandage across a wound she wasn't ready to think about. She had changed into a set of pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt left out by Mallory before allowing her sister to bundle her up in the living room under the swan blanket with a large mug of soup in her hands and stern instructions to drink all of it.

The soup had the desired soothing effect. It was a consoling warmth in Cadence's hands as she became aware of the Washington chill at last, it was a great difference to the Colombian humidity. The soup was vegetable with some delightfully large chunks of potato and carrot, ordered and collected from some expensive hotel by one of Leo's hired minions.

It hadn't taken Leo long to make the necessary calls to get a detailed private security staff round to keep both his daughters safe. With both of them in a place he considered unscrupulous at best, he had made a private plea with Jed for some extra assistance. Sure it was an exploitation of position and a bending of the rules but given everything that had happened, Jed had complied and asked Ron Butterfield, head of the Secret Service, to provide someone.

Agent Michael Casper had not been the first choice or indeed second, he had simply been the first available who had checked Ron's boxes- not Secret Service but trained in protection, and in the area. He was a FBI Special Agent and based at the J Edgar Hoover Building, also known as the FBI headquarters, which was less than ten minutes from the White House.

Agent Casper's expertise was domestic incidents of racial attacks that could be inferred as terrorist based as they often involved widespread violence and murder with the use of bombs and explosives. As such, he considered White House matters well above his pay grade and, until tonight, had only briefly toyed with the novelty of meeting a high up member of the White House team.

He had arrived just after ten o'clock bringing the much desired soup to save Leo's minion a trip up the stairs. It had instantly endeared him to a grateful Mallory who had given only a brief introduction before snapping up the embroidered, handled bag of sealed up soup pots and tinfoil wrapped steaming bread soaked in a herbed butter.

Now Agent Casper was getting the rundown from a stern faced Leo who was worn down with the day's events and his recent bickering with Mallory.

Leo took the agent in with a degree of scrutiny. He was eager eyed, bright as he smiled at Leo with an obvious awe and humbling embarrassment. Leo might have been flattered under difference circumstances but right now all he cared about was that the man could keep his daughters safe from both threats and the ever hungry press.

“You're here for the night,” Leo instructed, “I've got eight others, you've got their details. I'm expecting press to be around soon, it won't be long before they learn Cadence is home, and if I see anyone getting a microphone or a camera near her then I'm not going to wait for the explanation I'm just going to take my wrath out on you, do you understand?”

Agent Casper nodded briskly. He looked anxious but it wasn't from Leo's words, he was simply still in awe of being in the Chief of Staff's presence. Seeing Leo's face shift to mistrust, he felt compelled to speak.

“Sir, this might not be my usual jurisdiction but I take it very seriously and I assure you, your daughters will be kept safe,” Agent Casper said seriously.

Leo frowned. “That's what the last one said,” he grumbled. He raised a hand slightly to his greyed hair. “Look, I might need you for a few days,” he admitted. “This isn't going to blow over quickly.”

Agent Casper nodded again. “Ron briefed me, he said as many days as you asked for.”

“Right. Well good, get started then.”

Leo stepped away from the agent and headed to his daughters who were now bundled up together under the swan blanket. He halted to watch them for a moment. From behind as he took in the back of their heads tilted against the other's and saw the pattern of swans against their shoulders he could almost imagine they were young again. It was a familiar sight, Mallory and Cadence tired out and under the family blanket in the living room as they shared some beverage. Cold milk in the summer evenings and hot cocoa in the Chicago winters.

Leo sighed again, it was picturesque in his mind as he tried to pretend that every night in his earlier years had been some Christmas card styled family fantasy. The truth was he had only caught the image a handful of times, more often than not work had kept him out too late to catch his girls before they went to bed. Then there were the nights he had been home but rather than engage with them he had headed straight for the tumbler and the decanter to swallow down his stress with whiskey.

Leo headed round to the front of the couch, ready to bid his farewells but a look from Mallory told him to stay silent. He noticed then that Cadence was thankfully asleep.

Leo gave his eldest a warm smile and nodded before heading for the door. He realised Cadence was safe at last because she had her sister looking out for her.


	25. Sexy Sexism

The press had ran a minor story to match with the major ones of John and Cadence's meetings with the President of Colombia. The minor story however had picked up pace and popularity thanks to an accompanying photograph, drawing the White House's attention to it. The story was that Cadence McGarry had taken a turn after her meeting with the President of Colombia, a mild faint from heatstroke. What had followed was the now seemingly heroic and chivalrous Vice President running to her aid. The proof was in a photograph that had leaked of Vice President Hoynes crouched down with Cadence in his arms as he started to lift her.

John's popularity had soared an impressive fifty points on the back of it and he was now more popular in the country than he had ever been. In public his wife Suzanne was singing his praises, smiling and telling everyone how he was always like that, a true Southern gentleman.

C.J currently stood with Josh, Sam and Toby scrutinising the photograph, which was laid out before them on the grainy print of a newspaper.

“He does look good,” C.J admitted. She was reluctant to say it and took on an opposing stance with her arms folded and a severity in her stare but yet it was the stare that betrayed her as it was fixated on the picture. “Although it's not flattering to Cadence,” she scorned. “She meets with the President of Colombia but this is the photo that does the rounds.”

John almost looked posed. He was a handsome man and highly photogenic. His hair was only mildly wavy with the humidity, messy but in an appealing manner and his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, untidy but it showed off his muscular arms as they embraced Cadence.

“I mean it's almost sweet,” she added as she gestured to the photograph, which was currently on Toby's desk.

“Sweet,” Toby sneered as he smacked the newspaper with the back of his hand, “it's sickening. He goes to make peace and he's out looking like a God damn hero, I'd swear they planned it if it wasn't so good.”

“I said almost Toby,” C.J retorted defensively. “And who are they?” she queried.

“Planned it?” Sam echoed as he glanced at Toby dubiously.

Sam was certain there were things about Colombia they didn't know. The Vice President and Cadence had been back for three days now but no more dark surprises had slipped out and everything seemed peaceful. Colombia was pacified, the CIA had been forced to shut up and swallow its lies, Cadence was now in the clear with the American people and yet things were very amiss. Sam hadn't seen Mallory since Cadence's return, she had refused to leave her sister's side and that in itself was a clue, if Mallory was with her then Cadence wasn't back at work.

Like the press and the public, Sam and the others had been informed of Cadence having a faint from sunstroke. There was no mention to them of kidnappings or threats. They all sensed a deception, one which Josh and Toby deeply resented whilst Sam and C.J were willing to consider that given they had almost risked war it was maybe for their own good whatever the deception was.

“Well he's made good publicity from this,” Toby grumbled.

Josh was the only one who remained silent as he stared down at the photograph. He wondered how the others missed it and if everyone else had missed it too. To him the way John stared at Cadence was unmistakable. There was a deep seriousness to the Vice President's blue stare as he fixed it on her and only her. Josh wondered when C.J might inadvertently spring upon it by suggesting John's protective embrace was perhaps romantic rather than sweet.

Josh couldn't believe how John had let himself be caught in such a vulnerable, risky position. He wondered if John had even noticed his own deceiving stare in the picture or if he had let his ego take over once more and saw only how heroic he looked to the people.

There was another issue Josh took with the photograph and he voiced it quietly without meaning to. “It does make Cadence look like a damsel,” he murmured.

C.J nodded agreeably. “It's true, as I said, it's unflattering to her, which isn't fair. She went there alone, without the White House shield, that took guts. Rather than praise her for it or show a picture of her shaking the President of Colombia's hand unflinching they run this repeatedly.”

“But you said he looked cute,” Toby mocked her with a sneer as he smacked the newspaper again dramatically.

“Sweet Toby,” she corrected curtly, “I said sweet and I said almost, you keep forgetting that bit.”

“You're still looking at his picture!” Toby scorned her.

“There you see,” C.J retaliated as she finally glanced up at the man. “That's it in a nutshell,” she held her hand out to him, “you call it his picture not theirs. It's all about him, read the caption- Vice President rushes to assistant's aid,” she scorned the quote, “they don't name Cadence in it and they don't get her job title right.”

“They did name her in the article,” Sam corrected quietly.

Sam almost flinched at the glower C.J gave him.

Reminded of the inequality to Cadence and women in general, C.J found the spell of John's appeal lifted from her once more. She reached to the offending article with one finger, running down it until she found the quote mentioning Cadence.

“Cadence McGarry,” C.J read aloud, “daughter of Chief of Staff Leo McGarry.” She glanced up from the article to Sam with a sardonic smile. “So, we get her father's title but not hers, as if she matters only through her father.”

Josh folded his arms as he smirked over at C.J. “Just a sec,” he addressed her jovially, “I thought you liked this story!”

“Well parts of it I do,” C.J admitted as she stood upright, “in that it's good press for the White House, it shows our VP in a good light and it's a light story nicely taking away from the awkward, offending ones we've been dealing with lately. A good way to smooth over the saga of Colombia. However, it has successfully undermined all the work Cadence has done with one lousy photograph, she was doing charity work in Colombia and falsely accused of terrorism and she had to go down to Colombia with that suspicion over her to clear her own name but all they're promoting is that she fainted from the heat and the Vice President somehow saved her from this,” C.J scorned.

Josh continued to smile. “Well now, don't forget she did help make this mess by not giving anyone a clue about it.”  
“Josh I know it's hard for you to accept she is actually human and not a demon,” C.J addressed him sardonically with a tense smile, “but try, I know you can. We all know enough to know that she went through a lot of bad things that scared her into silence. None of us can say with any certainty if we would have acted differently.”

“Well now wait a minute,” Toby began an irate protest.

C.J held up the palm of her right hand to silence him. “You haven't been through it Toby, you cannot know for sure,” she said firmly.

C.J placed her palms down around the edges of the paper and leaned on the desk as she took in the three men. “It's been fun gentlemen but I now have to go and address the press pool regarding this...”

C.J paused and glanced down at the paper again, unsure what to refer to it as.

“Careful you don't drool over your new fancy,” Toby remarked bitingly with another hostile look at the paper.

C.J flinched at the remark and for a very brief moment her cheeks flared a faint pink. She stood upright, shrugging off an unwanted memory as she did.

“Toby you're just jealous,” she taunted. “It's not often I say this about our Vice but give the man some credit where it's due.”

“I would if I thought his ego needed it,” Toby continued to scoff.

“Well that's a little unfair,” Sam mumbled, “I mean the Vice President has warranted some of his pride, don't you think? I mean he's gotten to the office of Vice President after all, that's no easy feat.”

“But it's not quite President, is it?” Toby snipped back as he gave his inferior a displeased stare.

“See you later,” C.J retorted cheerfully.

The tall woman turned and headed briskly from Toby's room in the direction of the press pool. She had been expecting a better briefing with the men, some other news to present to the press but this morning was unusually slow. Sure the West Wing was as busy as ever but the news was not. They all knew it was just the calm before the next storm and hell hadn't Colombia been one hell of a storm but it was hard to appreciate the calm when you couldn't stop fearing what was coming next.

C.J stepped into the room with her usual warm tranquillity to greet familiar press people with a smile.

“Good morning,” she welcomed them cheerfully as she stood behind the familiar podium. Once it had given her anxiety as she felt like a priest at the pulpit addressing the masses but now the wooden stand as a comfort to her, the platform to elevate her so that she could always been above the rabble of media and clearly in charge of this world.

“Good morning C.J,” they retorted gamely.

C.J went through her briefings, talking through the major headlines that really weren't so major and off letting a dump of stories with a vagueness that ensured they would be forgotten they moment they left her mouth. She hated that part, the old 'but we did tell you' when really what they'd done was shoved a little snipping of a headline of a story in amongst a ramble of boring headlines to ensure it was forgotten and not scented out by the press bloodhounds because it was something that made the White House uncomfortable. This time it was a curious death on a military base, thought to be racially motivated but no it was vengeance for blackmail committed by the victim, only the parents of said victim were too proud and devoted to believe it and were still crying racism against the overwhelming, damning evidence. C.J empathised with all parties involved but she could see how it could be blown out of proportion and easily misinterpreted to cast an unwanted shadow on the military. Given the public suspicion of the CIA, they didn't need people turning on their military too.

Now it was question time and C.J was intrigued to see what was asked.

“Yes, Jess,” she pointed to a female journalist.

“C.J what's the White House opinion on the Vice President's actions in Colombia?”

C.J narrowed her eyes and gave a coy look. “Pleased with his meeting with both the President and Vice President of Colombia.”

Jess smiled and shook her head as she held up her pen again. “No C.J, with his actions regarding Cadence McGarry. Reckless, heroic?” she prompted.

“Jess, it was an honest reaction to one of his people being in a brief moment of unease, the White House respects that,” C.J answered calmly.

This time it was Danny's hand up. He was front and centre as always, a place well earned over the years and one C.J always tried not to be conscious of and yet every time she stepped into the room she couldn't resist sneaking a glance at him.

“C.J, what about Cadence McGarry, how is she?” Danny pried.

“She's fine Danny,” C.J said dismissively.

“No one's seen her, and she's not back at work,” Danny pressed for information, “is she fine?”

C.J frowned at the man, thinking how it wasn't really that long ago he'd come a peacemaker to warn her about a fluff piece on Cadence that might turn into something more, which of course it had. Now here he was trying to make a story out of a fluff piece.

“Danny I haven't seen her personally but I am told that she is,” C.J answered bluntly.

She regretted the words the moment they were out. It was a lie, no one had told her that. She had asked of course, they all had, prying to Leo about his youngest welfare out of concern for Leo and Cadence. Leo however had refrained from answering, he had been unusually irate about it and snapped that it was a private family manner and that Cadence was no longer fodder for gossip. The latter remark had stung since none of them was seeking to gossip about her, even Josh was genuinely concerned about her welfare despite his jabs at her expense.

“By who?” Danny queried, making C.J wonder if he sensed the lie.

“By sources close with her and on this matter I am not going to say anymore, she deserves her privacy.” C.J gave him a wide smile to ease the bluntness of her voice but her blue stare expressed her sternness.

Another hand was up.

C.J gestured to it. She was still showing a pleasant facade but her joy had gone and she was shifting to autopilot mode whilst her mind worried over what she had said to Danny.

“C.J, will Vice President Hoynes replace Cadence McGarry?” A reporter called Jeff pried. “Or has he even considered a temporary replacement?”

“Jeff those are questions for the Eisenhower team, speak with Jeremy Rolston for that,” C.J answered flatly.

C.J glanced pointedly at the clock. “One more question is all we have time for folks,” she announced.

There was the expected groans and hands darting up.

“Rob,” C.J commanded.

“C.J, what's your personal thoughts on the Vice President running to Cadence's aid?”

“I don't know Rob, you tell me yours first,” she answered with a smile that bore a slight hint of venom to it.

There was a mild chorus of giggles amongst the other reporters.

“I think dashing is a good word,” Rob answered cheerfully with a smile.

There was the expected chortle at this.

C.J's smile warmed a little. “Well I do like that word,” she enthused. “Look, I think he did the right thing but let's not blow it out of proportion just because he's the Vice President, he did what any decent human being would and it shouldn't matter about gender either,” she added heatedly, “good humans help good humans, that's it. The lid is on.”

There was a murmur of confusion amongst the press core but C.J was done. She ignored the pleas for more and waved off the hands as she exited the room.

Once free, C.J gave a loud groan of despair and raised her palm to her brow, pushing it through her coppery-brown hair before she hastened to her office. All the while she wondered if her answer to Danny was as bad as she feared.

It took only fifteen minutes before Josh was in to annoy her. She was already flustered when he arrived in her office, trying and failing to distract herself with paperwork in between pacing her office, half-convincing herself that she was just trying to work up her steps for the day.

“Good humans help good humans?” Josh taunted with a grin as he charged in without waiting for permission. “That's very articulate of you C.J.”

She lowered her water bottle to give him a withering stare. “Oh bite me Lyman,” she snapped before taking a deep gulp.

“Consider me the lesser evil here C.J, Toby is right on my tail.”

C.J didn't even time to react to that before Toby charged in right on cue. His face was full of fury as he slammed her office door shut behind him.

“C.J did looking at Hoynes with his shirt open addle your brain or something?!” Toby snapped as he glowered up at her.

Josh snickered before he could help it. He fell silent at the heated glower he earned from Toby and raised a finger half-heartedly like a pupil seeking permission to seek. “He um didn't have his shirt open Toby,” he said, his voice growing weaker as the glower intensified, “just the sleeves rolled up.”

“I don't care!” Toby roared.

C.J and Josh both flinched at the yell.  
Josh fought the urge to argue that Toby did seem to care and in fact seemed as fixated with John's image as C.J but for vastly different reasons.

Toby's scorching returned to C.J. “Does it annoy you that you lost your wits over that photograph?” Toby snarled. “Is that why you undermined the man?”

“Undermined him?” C.J gaped in surprise. “Toby what? I didn't do that!”

She sat her water bottle down and turned to face Toby with genuine shock, this was not what she had been expecting to be scolded for.

“Let's not blow it out of proportion just because he's the Vice President,” Toby repeated her words with an added anger. “C.J you as good as implied he only acted that way because of his station and that he doesn't deserve due credit because of his prestigious title, it's a double insult damn it!” Toby's voice took up volume again.

He waved his hand up and down in emphasis to his yelling.

Josh shrank back from the gesture, afraid that he might get smacked in an unintended crossfire.

“Right when we were getting on track! Why couldn't you say no comment? Or good? How hard is that? How hard?! Damn it this isn't kindergarten anymore, mistakes like these are costly! We don't need anymore hostility seen between the Vice President and the President or their respected offices!”

“Alright Toby!” C.J snapped back, fed up now with the telling off. “That is not what I meant at all, I meant we should see good gestures from people as a norm not an exception, that was all I meant! If one of his staff had run out there they would be deserving of the same praise!”

“C.J don't be naïve,” Toby snapped.

He threw his hands up in the air, turned and stormed out of the office.

“What is eating him?” C.J cried out as gestured after him with one hand and looked to Josh for an answer.

Josh shrugged as he stared after Toby. “I don't know. I think he's jealous of Hoynes.”

C.J looked to Josh with a stunned expression. “What? Why?”

Josh shrugged again. “He's good looking, charismatic, charming, women like him.” He gave a small grin and glanced at C.J. “Kind of the opposite of Toby don't you think?”

“Well right now, yeah,” C.J grumbled as she folded her arms. “Maybe Toby should get out of kindergarten and realise the Vice President isn't perfect.”

“And there you're back to the we're all equals implication,” Josh jested.

“Well we are,” C.J snapped.

“Just some are more equal than others,” Josh continued to mock her.

Josh's brown stare turned serious and he thumbed his nose lightly. “Hey C.J,” he said quietly, “your answer to Danny, who's your source? Leo won't tell us anything about Cadence not even to say if she is fine.”

C.J sighed and leaned against her desk with one hand whilst raising the other to her brow. She shook her head. “Josh he caught me out,” she confessed. “I don't have a source.”

“Oh.”

C.J cocked her head slightly to peer at Josh through the gaps in her fingers. “I know. Do you think Leo will be mad?”

Josh nodded. “Probably, do you want me to talk to him first?”

C.J lowered her hand and waved him off with it. “No, it's my fault, I'll apologise for it.”

“Alright, and don't worry about Toby, he's bugged about this for some other reason, it's not you.”

\---

Thump. Thump. Thump. Sam drummed harder on his keyboard in an attempt to drown out a sound that over the past few months had become annoyingly familiar. Thump. Thump. Thump.

When there was a crash and a spray of glass, Sam could ironically no longer ignore the thumping even though it had ceased.

Toby entered the room at once cross and remorseful. He headed for the offending baseball that had causing the thumping and then the crash that had left a sizeable hole in Sam's window.

“Sorry,” Toby muttered as he seized the ball up from the floor, narrowly avoiding glass as he did.

Toby glanced at the breakage. “I'll get someone to sort that.”

Sam leaned back in his chair and looked to his boss with a calm curiosity. “Toby, what's wrong?” he queried gently.

It was late in the afternoon and despite the overall tranquillity of the day there was a constant tenseness in the air like the heaviness that came before the thunder. They all knew something bad was coming eventually but no one could fathom what or when and Sam didn't like it. Usually there were telltale ripples, a hint of the problem that gave them a chance to get on top of it but right now the waters were calm and he dreaded what might be lurking underneath them.

Toby let out a loud dramatic sigh before clenching the worn, cream ball tight in his hands until his knuckles turned red.

“Andy said it was a sexy look,” he grumbled, “can you believe that?” He whirled on Josh with a look of fury. “She said he looked a fifties film star and I'm not even sure what that's meant to mean and she said that whole shirt collar, button, sleeve thing, whatever the hell it was, she said it was a good look for him.”

Toby let out a strangled laugh that had Sam's blue eyes widening with alarm.

“He's the Vice President, dishevelled should not be a good look for anyone in that job!” Toby yelled.

Sam, more conscious of the hole in the window letting noise out into the corridor than Toby was, kept his voice quiet as he responded.

“Um Toby, why exactly were you and your ex-wife discussing the Vice President?” Sam asked. He was a little fearful of what the answer would be.

“Well Ginger and Bonnie were crooning over him and then Andy phoned so I asked her,” Toby answered bluntly. He dropped his hands by his sides but kept clutching the baseball. “Then she said that word and I argued about it and she went into more detail.”

Toby paused and looked at Josh seriously. “Josh, do you think it was a good look? Do you think women want that? Do you think the office isn't enough? That maybe no matter the job women still expect that dashing rescue?”

Sam was surprised by the questions and the troubled stare in Toby's dark eyes. Toby had a neurotic personality, it was easy for him to get in a rage fuelled fluster or a manic panic if he thought the President had forgotten some important line or was botching his speech but Sam didn't think he had seen the man fluster over vanity before.

“Toby I think you're reading far too much into this,” Sam responded calmly, “and that C.J has a valid point in suggesting it's unfair to take a snapshot like that and call the woman a damsel and forget everything else she did. It was nice but it was just a fluff piece Toby, a feel good image to admire and chuckle over, it'll pass.”

“Hmm Sam, I take your point, I do but it's not helping me right not because you are avoiding the question a little and I'm a bit self-conscious now. There I admit it,” Toby rambled. “I wonder if it's not enough, am I not enough? Do I...do I need to do that thing with my sleeves?” he queried mystified as he glanced at his arms which were concealed beneath shirt sleeves layered with his black jacket sleeves.

Toby scratched at his head and frowned. “Is Hoynes up there because he's got looks? Is that it? Is he ...” Toby trailed off and bristled, shuddering as if he had just tasted something vile. “Is he sexy Sam? Am I not?”

Sam sank back against his seat with a look of discomfort. “Um Toby I think that we're crossing some line here and really it's outside my job description.”

“Damn it Sam!” Toby snapped. “I'm reaching out to you as a friend and asking you man to man here!”

Toby stepped forward and lowered his voice as he leaned down and across the desk slightly. “Look I'm a proud man Sam so this takes a lot, believe me but I...well I haven't had a date in a while and now I'm wondering if I ever will because I don't have sky blue eyes and glossy dark hair as Ginger put it this morning and bulging arms as my dear ex-wife said and...”

“Toby!” Sam interjected. “Look,” he raised his hands in a calming gesture, “did they tell you, you lacked those qualities or simply stated that the Vice President had them?”

“The latter Sam but what's your point?” Toby grumbled with a frown.

“That you sought their opinion, at least you said you asked for Andy's, about the Vice President, not about you. Look, you don't need to compare yourself to him, and you do have blue eyes and dark hair by the way, but what you need is to get out there and look for someone,” he enthused. “You're intelligent, you've a great job, you have plenty of assets Toby.”

“Don't patronise me Sam,” Toby scorned.

“I'm not.” Sam pushed his chair back and stood up. “How about you, me and Josh go out for a few drinks and test the waters?”

“Test the waters? Sam what does that even mean?”

Sam gave his boss a warm grin. “You know, find you someone. Josh can be your wingman, he's single too.”

Toby let out a despairing groan at this. “Well now there's no hope.”

Toby turned from Sam and headed for the office door.

“How about tonight?” Sam called. “Toby? Toby tonight?”

Toby just kept walking and escaped the office without a response.  
Sam raised a hand in a wave even though Toby did not glance back.

“I'll tell Josh, we'll say around nine,” Sam called enthusiastically.

\---

C.J was tense as she stepped into the Chief of Staff's office. Even though she had been bracing herself for this there was a difference between preparing for something and actually wanting to deal with it. This she definitely did not want to deal with it.

Leo was quiet as he sat at his desk, head bowed to some notes as he wrote on them.

C.J couldn't tell if the man was genuinely engaged with his writing or just trying to make her sweat. She contemplated going for the offence, speaking first and getting it out there but then he looked up and fixed her with a pale stare of disapproval and she stayed silent.

Leo set his pen down at last. “C.J who told you Cadence was fine?” Leo was straight to the point.

“No one sir,” C.J confessed.

“So why did you tell Danny Concannon that sources told you she was?” Leo's voice was quiet but full of scorn.

C.J filled with a shame akin to a child being told by their parents that they weren't angry but disappointed. Toby could yell and fluster but didn't quite have the knack of discipline over his staff that Leo did. C.J figured it was something that came from being a parent, imagining that parents had a master over certain ways of disciplining people so that it really stung.

“Leo I'm sorry, he caught me off guard and I didn't know how to answer.

“No comment!” Leo snapped as he let some of his anger seep into his blue stare. “What do you normally say when you don't have an answer for the press C.J? I'll look into it, I'll check with the White House, no comment at this present time,” Leo rambled off statements used in the past. “You aren't new at this anymore, I expect better.”

Even though Leo was sitting and C.J was standing she suddenly felt very small. “I am sorry,” she said sincerely.

“And another thing, what was that quip about the Vice President? Let's not blow it out of proportion because he's the Vice President?” Leo repeated her words back to her.

C.J repressed an urge to frown. Her blue eyes were full of regret as she stared down at her superior. “Leo I only meant he was doing something we should expect of any decent human irregardless of their rank or position. Cadence took a turn in the heat, she fell, he went to help her, that's it surely. I don't think this is the story to blow up.”

Leo frowned and his stare became serious. “The White House is quite happy to have this story be the focus,” he said carefully.

C.J she looked back at Leo in confusion. “What? Why Leo? It's-”

“Fluff,” Leo cut her off.

C.J folded her arms. “I was going to say insulting to Cadence.”

Leo stood up from his desk suddenly with an angry look. “As insulting as articles calling her a terrorist or a traitor?!” he snapped. “A CIA agent, a Colombian rebel?!”

C.J's arms dropped by her sides as quickly as she raised them as she took a step back. “Leo I didn't...” She trailed off, unsure what she was supposed to say. “Did we leak this photograph?” she demanded.

“No, the Colombians had it in their press but we are taking advantage.” Leo pointed at C.J crossly. “Now you're going to let it run its course without anymore comments that might suggest anyone in the White House has some hostility to it. It's fluff C.J not an overhaul of the voting system, let it go. Cadence has finally been vindicated and now with this piece the American public will lose interest in Colombia and we can finally have peace from it.”

C.J nodded. “Alright Leo, I didn't know.”

“No and you don't know how Cadence is so don't voice an opinion on that either,” Leo snapped.

C.J nodded again. She was eager to leave the room and Leo's anger but at the same time she wanted to make amends and not leave on bad terms.

“Well, how is she Leo?” C.J pried.

“Never mind,” he snapped.

C.J tensed again at the Chief of Staff's hostility. “Alright, well...”

“Go C.J, you're dismissed,” he said flatly.

“Right.”

C.J exited the room quickly, pacing past Margaret with barely a nod of farewell. She moved quickly, head bowed and one hand raised to her brow, steadying back the grief from her face. She felt shaken. It had been a long time since she had last made any mistakes in the press room. She dreaded what was coming next, undoubtedly fresh accusations from Toby about her being too close with the press, Danny in particular. Hell they'd even suggest it was because of her flirtations with him that he had been able to catch her off guard like that.

C.J cursed under her breath. It was always the women who got damned. No one remembered how often Cadence had bolstered John Hoynes up in the political world, how her quick thinking decisions had gotten him points, how her opening move had seen him and the President united in Texas, nope all they cared about was some cheap snapshot of him running to her rescue. Had she even needed rescued? She had already hit the ground and she had recovered.

C.J understood it. No one was going to bother admonishing Danny was prying too often into Cadence's welfare, they'd say he was doing his job but C.J wasn't doing hers. Never mind how she'd mastered the awkwardness of the press around Texas and Colombia and the C.I.A. Nope, that would all be forgotten for some dumb slip up this morning.

She took a deep breath as she reached her office and raised her hand up to the door.

“Hey C.J,” Josh called to her.

She glanced over her left shoulder at him sharply letting him see the angry upset in her gaze.

Josh halted and gave her a nervous half-smile. “You saw Leo huh?” he quipped quietly.

“Yeah I saw Leo,” she answered with a tired quietness as she sagged slightly against her door frame.

“Well we're going out tonight for drinks, me, Sam and Toby,” Josh explained, “and you look like you could do with a drink, so how about it?”

C.J smiled as she lowered her hand from the door and turned to face Josh properly. “I'd like that a lot,” she confessed.

Josh's smile appeared in full. “We all have bad days,” he sympathised, “it will pass.”

\---

The Gray House was the tongue in cheek name of the classy bar Sam picked for their night out. Although it was an attempt to find Toby a date, that was a fact Toby had demanded Sam keep to himself. As far as Josh and C.J concerned, it was just one of those very rare nights out to let off some steam. Except Toby was reluctant to get on with the steam letting because all four of them were out and he was unwilling to believe the White House could function with them drinking, even though it was out of hours.

The evening should have started at nine but business had kept Sam and Josh working until ten. Now the worst of the evening's events had been put to bed as had the President who was in the residency. Leo was still at work but that was unsurprising, since Cadence's return he had been putting in long hours. Most of them had figured it was tying up loose ends around Colombia and making sure the whole incident was closed off now. Except it wasn't that easy because the C.I.A agents all presented loose ends. What was going to be done about them was anyone's guess.

Currently it was just after eleven and Sam and C.J were occupying the silver veined, white marble bar. The atmosphere was chilled, the music low and of a jazz vein and the bar calm with only a few people lingering at it.

“He called him sexy,” Sam explained to the White House Press Secretary as he waited at the bar for his drink.

Sam had tired of keeping the information to himself, it was too funny and C.J had been probing him as to why he had randomly arranged an evening out tonight.

C.J looked confused at this. “Wait, Toby thinks the Vice President is sexy?”

Sam looked sheepish at this. “No!” he corrected with a hasty alarm. “I mean, well Andy said it, he repeated it, and asked me if I thought he was sexy.”

C.J's expression turned incredulous as she leaned back slightly and raised her cocktail glass. After Leo's chewing out earlier it was much needed.

“And do you?” she queried with intrigue and a small grin.

“No, well not in that way,” Sam grumbled as he dipped his head in a slight fluster.

Sam was glad that Josh remained at the table, certain the teasing he would admonish for this conversation would be relentless.

C.J's lip curled up in a teasing smile. “Well in what way then?” she pried.

She looked elegant as she lifted the glass to her lips without unsettling the silver wrap about her arms.

Sam glanced back up at her. “I mean, in that I can see that he is a distinguished man who might be appealing visually to some,” Sam answered very carefully.

C.J spat out her drink in a spray of laughter. Suddenly her elegance was gone as she snorted in a bid to control her laughter and her other hand went up to hide her open mouthed smile, causing the wrap to slide down on one side to her elbow.

“Oh Sam, how democratic of you!” she sneered. “I needed this tonight, definitely.” She reached over with her left hand to grip his shoulder lightly. “I'm not going to make accusations against your sexuality if you say you think he's attractive!” She released his shoulder and shook her head. “This is why people take offence at the simplest of things and become afraid to voice their opinions.”

“Well, if we're being honest,” Sam said with a slightly sullen look as he didn't appreciate the mockery, “what do you think of him? Visually.”

“Visually,” C.J mocked quietly as her laughter died down.

Sam's drink arrived and he accepted it gratefully.

She dipped her head back to her drink, using taking a deep sip of it as an obvious evasion tactic.

“I think he's attractive,” she finally confessed. She wasn't quite able to keep the annoyance from her voice at her admittance.

Sam smiled at this. “Do you think Toby's right to think he can't compete with a man like that?”

“What?” C.J looked to Sam in disbelief and gave a wide smile as she shook her head. “Ridiculous. John Hoynes has his moments but he has a side to him too that's selfish and ruthless. Toby might be unhappy, neurotic and at times an angry, shouty man but he's still capable of caring for others over himself and I'm not sure if it came to it, if Hoynes would be willing to put someone's needs over his own if it meant he took a loss for it.”

Sam stared at C.J in surprise, wondering where her opinion for the Vice President came from. “Okay. We should go back to the others.”

“Yeah, I can't wait to ask Toby which Vice President he thinks is the sexiest,” C.J joked as she strode on ahead.

Sam almost choked on a mouthful of beer at her statement. He hastened to keep up with her fast pacing whilst pleading with her half-heartedly not to let Toby know that he had told her.


	26. The State Dinner

Cadence McGarry felt like she was getting ready for a rebirth ritual. As she gazed at herself in a mirror she realised she was far too nervous of the evening ahead to make any kind of judgement call on her appearance. Skipping wasn't an option. For her the invitation had been in person from a President with mixed motives who had grumbled that the First Lady would be there and was adamant that she came and that the Vice President was asked to attend as well and wouldn't it be fitting to show she was back working for him if she attended. President Bartlet had followed this with a wave of his hand and a grumble that sitting through five courses and as many speeches if not more was punishment for most people.

Cadence had returned to work two weeks ago, in a quiet, understated manner. She had stuck to her office, avoiding John and submitting her work and suggestions to Gavin or Jeremy. Gavin had done as he had vowed to and told John the truth about leaking Cadence's history with Robbie to the press. What had mystified Gavin was finding himself still in post after his confession although John's fierce gaze suggested he wanted to fire his aide. Gavin knew Cadence was behind the mercy but she refused to discuss it, insisting they went back to business as usual.

Cadence had been expecting some hostility or perhaps indifference in the Eisenhower but had been surprised to find a warm, welcoming attitude instead. The majority of staff there believed that she really had been doing charity work in Colombia and had almost been killed by soldiers and exploited and intimidated by a corrupt group of C.I.A agents. Both her survival of those events and the much more recent persecution by the press had earned her a newfound respect amongst her work colleagues. Even the fluff piece depicting her as being rescued from a faint by the Vice President had not dented her reputation with her co-workers any.

Tonight would mark Cadence's first public event since Colombia. Standing in her evening gown she felt like a debutante.

The bedroom door knocked but the caller didn't wait for a response before entering.

Cadence looked over accusingly as her sister entered the room.

“I could've been naked Mal,” she scorned.

“I've seen it before Cady Cat and anyway, this is my house,” he older sister reminded her with a smile.

Mallory was radiant as ever, wearing an appealing, figure hugging crimson gown accessorised with gold plated jewellery.

“I come bearing gifts,” she announced with a smile as she held up two glass flutes in one hand and a bottle of sparkling wine in the other, “these and-”

“Me!” Zoey couldn't contain her enthusiasm as she poked round from behind Mallory with a wide smile.

Cadence's gaze softened as she took in the youngest of the Bartlet daughters. Zoey was a radiant and innocent image of untouched beauty in a violet frock that was down to the ground and high at the chest with tasteful, wide straps of translucent cloth to give the illusion of exposure without the risk.

“Aren't you attending with Charlie?” Cadence pried as she resumed staring at herself in the mirror. Looking at Zoey brought unease to her marbled grey-blue stare, it had been so long since she had last seen her, too long and after everything that had happened she was wary how to address the teenager. Truthfully, Cadence was afraid of unwittingly corrupting her.

Mallory and Zoey both looked to the tawny haired woman with dismay.

“Are you kidding? Dad would freak at that!” Zoey marvelled.

Cadence turned back to her, glancing to the hall to spy out Gina lingering nearby, subtle but watchful. Gina was wearing a slimming black dress, it was tastefully cut, not restricting, not liable to be tripped over either, and opaque enough to keep a gun hidden out of sight. The idea was for her to blend in, obvious agents were marked quickly by hostiles, having one a little more undercover gave an added protection to the President's daughter.

“Don't Zoey and Gina get a glass of something?” Cadence quipped.  
“Already offered,” Mallory retorted, “but there's no appeal to ginger ale apparently.”

Cadence and Zoey both screwed up their faces at that.

“No Mal,” Cadence murmured, “you're right, there is no appeal to that.”

“Cady Cat you look beautiful,” Zoey praised.

Cadence was back to scrutinising herself in the mirror, she wanted pantyhose, unnecessary as they were but Mallory was adamant she wasn't wearing them. Her dress had a slit up past the knee, a telltale glimpse of a scarred leg. Sure, it was of a floaty texture so when seated she could probably hide it with effort but then it would look awkward, wrinkled and displaced. She wanted a wrap too but the dress hadn't come with one as the straps were meant to be shown off. The straps were elegant and of silver, designed as leafy vines stretching up her over her shoulder to criss-cross at the back, even Cadence couldn't figure out how the hell she'd put them on. It left her arms more exposed that her leg, scars bare and on display. The dress also had a dramatic drop, backless to the embroidered silver that bordered the small of her back and the rise of her derrière, which had Cadence wondering dryly about a chill on her skin.

Mallory set the glasses and opened bottle down on the vanity table and snatched up a silver comb styled clip sitting there and a soft brush. She teased up some of her sister's fair waves to give the hair volume and slipped the comb into place near the top to secure it.

“You do look lovely Cady,” she enthused as she stood beside her sister and surveyed their images.

They were chalk and cheese, one sister verging on being a redhead, and the other almost a blonde. Both dresses showed off a figure but Cadence's started to flow outwards at her waist in gossamer midnight blue, it was sheaths of tempting sheer cloth, layered enough to offer dignity whilst Mallory's bold red was figure hugging from top to bottom and had no tellale slit or straps, instead it had short sleeves spilled at the shoulders to be in line with the cut at the bust. Cadence was dressed as the night in midnight blue and silver whilst Mallory was fiery in crimson and gold.

“I feel exposed,” Cadence confessed quietly.

Mallory nodded sympathetically, knowing Cadence didn't just mean her outfit.

“It's going to be good,” Zoey enthused, “even if I can't drink,” she added with a slight pout.

Mallory poured the glasses at this and turned to Zoey with a smile as she raised hers. “Plenty of time for that, don't wish your youth away Zoey.”

Zoey frowned over at her. “Don't be in teacher mode Mal,” she pleaded.

Cadence giggled at this as she plucked up her own glass and took a sip. It was difficult to resist the urge to take a gulp. She wanted it, hell she needed it but she knew it was better pacing herself. There would be umpteen toasts tonight with expensive sparkling wines that went straight to the head, one could easily be inebriated before the first course was done.

“Which dignitary is this for again?” Zoey queried curiously.

“Prince Giovanni Amalfitano of San Saveno,” Cadence retorted as she turned the glass' stem about in her hand.

“And that is?” Zoey quipped.

“A sovereign state near Italy, “ Cadence answered, “very small, often forgotten, has some interesting looking deer I'm told.”

“Deer,” Zoey repeated as she looked at Cadence quizzically, wondering if she was joking.

Cadence nodded as she took another sip. “Mmm hmm, no raccoons though,” she lamented, “quite sad.”

“Truly,” Mallory interrupted in a sardonic tone. “Anyway, we have to go in a few minutes so let's head downstairs where Gina and Zoey can at least sit with Agent Casper.”

Mallory seized up the bottle and gestured for Zoey and Cadence to exit the bedroom.

Cadence tried to get another glimpse of her reflection but a playful push from Mallory had her heading for the door.

“Cady don't fuss, you do look lovely,” Mallory insisted.

Cadence surveyed the telltale pink lines of her arms with a frown. “Bare,” she murmured as she folded her arms.

“Cady they're part of you,” Mallory said softly.

Mallory was aware that her sister had some new scars even if she wasn't talking about them. Every so often Mallory would catch Cadence unawares, hand brushing against her right side as she looked down accusingly at some hidden mark. Colombia was as much of a mystery to Mallory as to most people. Cadence hadn't divulged, she had just gone with the cover story but Mallory wasn't buying it. It had led to many shouting matches between Mallory and Leo but Leo wasn't giving anything away. In the end, for Cadence's sake, Mallory had let the matter drop even as she spent night after night in Cadence's home, stubbornly consoling and arguing with her too. Mike Casper had been there as well, a steadfast shadow that was another sign to Mallory that something had happened.

The affable agent at least had some sort of personality and Mallory could engage him in conversation when Cadence turned sullen. Although over two weeks had passed and Mallory had been back at work and home for just over a week, she was still keeping close tabs on her sister. She had remained in Cadence's house during Cadence's first week back at work, which had led to some shouting and cursing from Cadence and accusations of being on a 'suicide watch'. The sad fact was, Cadence wasn't wrong.

Mallory had stayed with her sister out of fear that Cadence might be moved to the knife again. Now Mallory had returned home she insisted on ringing Cadence at least twice a day, calls that were as much to confirm that Cadence was still alive and unwounded as they were to see how her day had been. Mallory also called her father at least once a day to push him to check on Cadence too, fearful that if too many hours lapsed for Cadence between calls then she might consider the unthinkable. What made Mallory eternally suspicious was that Mike still lingered, she couldn't imagine he was there simply to assure Cadence brought no harm to herself. No, he was F.B.I, which meant there had to be some other threat to Cadence. Of course Mallory's thoughts were C.I.A but on that matter her father was firmly quiet.

Mike Casper had initially accompanied Cadence to work as her unwanted lift. He didn't follow her into the Eisenhower and instead returned to FBI quarters for work but when she left work he was there to take her home again. She had tried to evade him a couple of times but he'd found her and an earful from Leo to Cadence had her reluctantly promising not to do it again. After the first week, just like Mallory, he had slackened.

Now Mike was on a retainer of sorts. He checked Cadence's home but kept a distance, he had Leo's privately hired guards watching her from afar, a skeleton crew of sorts but he still had control. Tonight he was coming because tonight was going to be a busy, crowded affair and it had Leo a little on edge. Cadence had begged for a reprieve but Leo wasn't having it, especially not with Zoey in their company, although Cadence hadn't known about that part until now.

Cadence knew why Mike was a constant in her life lately. Her father wasn't sure what had happened to her in Colombia, no one really was and she didn't want to share. Leo was afraid of a reprisal, of some terrorist or outraged rebel coming to finish off the job. He was also wary of the C.I.A contemplating some sort of silencing job or revenge upon her. It was a fear Cadence no longer had the energy for.

Downstairs, Mike and Gina exchanged a glance across the living room. Gina stood at the door which led to the kitchen whilst Mike guarded the exit to the corridor. He gave the female agent a small flicker of a smile, their shared duty unspoken. He knew how Gina must feel, at once immensely proud and simultaneously burdened, guardian to a person whose status and vulnerability had evolved above others not just because of their father's place in politics but because of their own inability to be a stoic being in life.

“So, are you seeing Sam tonight?” Zoey asked with a mischievous smile at Mallory.

Mallory gave a feigned expression of confusion at this. “I'm not sure what you mean Zoey, aren't we all seeing him tonight? He's part of the President's staff, it would be odd if we didn't see him,” she retorted seriously with a slight purse of her lips.

Zoey giggled and reached out to nudge Mallory's arm lightly. “You know what I mean.”

The teenaged girl's eyes were bright were curiosity and joy as she grinned at the forbidden adult thoughts of courtship and coupling. With Charlie she was experiencing the first of many things and as a true gentleman he was letting her keep much of the fairytale novelty in tact. However, Zoey was at a precarious age when the childhood innocence wanted to give way to the urge of hormones and, like many young females her age, she had a desire not for hand holding and giggles but for passionate liaisons behind bedroom doors. Having no real idea of how they might play out, she hoped to learn from her older companions' tales.

Mallory gave an elegant shrug before leaning back in her seat. “We have no plans,” she confessed, “but maybe, if he's lucky, I'll let him have one dance.”

Zoey pouted at this chaste information before her gaze darted over to Cadence. She knew even less than Mallory about what her friend had suffered these past few weeks. All Zoey had picked up was that Cadence now had a certain element of danger following her, enough for Gina to disapprove strongly of Zoey being with the younger McGarry sister.

“Cady what about you?” Zoey pried carefully.

Cadence, who pushing at the folds of her dresses, gave a small grin down to her lap. “I've heard rumours that there is some novel idea being pushed for the President's staffers and the Vice President's staffers to share a dance. I'm not quite sure who with who. I had suggested counterparts as I quite like the idea of Josh and Gavin tangoing but I think that idea was vetted.”

Zoey sighed. “You're both making this sound dull and I'm excited for tonight.”

Cadence glanced over at her apologetically. Her blue-grey eyes were marred with the shadow of fatigue and in their irises was a spark of wild uncertainty that she couldn't contain.

“B.B you've always been my favourite dance partner anyway,” she mused, “so if we get a dance I'm happy.”

Gina made a small noise of disapproval at this prompting Cadence to glance her way.

The doorbell rang before anymore could be said.

Mallory rose to her feet as Mike headed for the door.

“It'll be the car,” Mallory said as she followed after Mike.

\---

For West Wing staff a state dinner was work more than leisure. Quite often they found themselves darting from the dining table to the office to try and update speeches based on idle talk at the table as well as getting an update on the ongoing affairs of the world. They could drink but, unless given explicit permission, were expected to remain sober as they were considered to be on the clock.

It taken a few of these affairs before C.J finally adjusted to the novelty of standing in her office in a designer dress as she tried to get a lead of incoming news disasters all while tasting the remnants of an expensive starter in her mouth and pondering what some foreign dignitary might be discussing while she was studying the news.

Tonight was a little different for the press secretary as the main news was here in person for a change. C.J towered amongst Sam, Toby and Josh as they lingered in a wide hallway watching as the Vice President's staff arrived. It was a little like high school as one group studied the other, taking in outfits and making murmurs of approval or disapproval to their companions. C.J was quite certain that Hoynes' staffer Sandra had made a crass remark about C.J's glamorous black and white dress.

Cadence, who had arrived to the White House with Mallory and Zoey, had appropriately and apologetically departed from them so that she could enter the State Dining Room as part of John Hoynes' team.

Despite having faded from the headlines, Cadence was still very much the point of interest for the West Wing members. She had become a point of fascination for them because she had been shrouded in mystery. By trying to give her some privacy, even from his own staff, Leo had only made her all the more intriguing for them.

Josh stared unblinking as Cadence strode up the corridor arm in arm with Gavin Drake. He scrutinised her, looking for telltale signs that would explain her public absence and subdued return to work. He felt his pulse quicken just a little as his eyes roamed up her form, until he saw her face and the attraction was spoiled.

Cadence's stare wasn't for Josh but it made him uneasy anyway. There was a certain heaviness to it as if she had reached a point of exhaustion she had no desire to pull away from. She smiled around her at no one in particular and he found it hollow.

“The proverbial daughter,” Toby murmured sardonically to the others. “I heard she's settled well at the Eisenhower again.”

“She looks great,” Sam enthused.

Although Sam was sincere even as he took in Cadence he was already looking past her in the hopes of spying her sister.

Josh disagreed with Sam, oh sure the dress was beautiful but she was thin in it and whilst her hair was styled to add a certain beauty to her face it couldn't detract from her haunted gaze.

The corridor was filled with activity, cameras flashed from all directions, security personnel and waiters almost seemed to blend in, both equally attentive to the guests, and a variety of visitors marvelled at their surroundings and glitzy companions as career hungry eyes roved over the crowds trying to spy the most appealing staff member to make an impression on.

When word came of the President's arrival, they were ushered in to be seated ahead of him. Last to be seated was the Vice President who arrived in black tie with his wife on his arm.

John and Suzanne Hoynes entered like the prom king and queen, beautiful, charming and enviable to their viewers. They waved and greeted the people they passed but did not linger with them as they headed for their assigned table.

Josh watched John and Suzanne with the same keenness he had taken in Cadence. Of late John's charm had taken on an edge, when he smiled his grin was tight and his striking blue stare seemed to brim with anger or annoyance. He didn't seem to court the cameras as often these days or take the opportunity to converse with the press. In fact, despite their adoration for him after the leaked photograph of him and Cadence, John Hoynes seemed to have adapted a subdued hostility to the press.

Tonight as he entered the room his smile had all the characteristics of a flame- it was bright and energetic but had an edge of warning to it and a promise to turn hostile at the slightest provocation.

Suzanne Hoynes was more eager to enchant the masses tonight. She seemed to know where every camera was and exactly when to turn and lean to ensure her best side was caught.

Josh had never known Suzanne very well. When John had been a governor in the running for President she had come only when the cameras were there. She was the ambitious beauty queen born to a certain standard of class and money, well educated she had majored in English but her career with John always seemed sketchy as she appeared as a 'lady that lunched'. During the campaign she had always been delighted to pose but was rarely seen when no one important was watching. Suzanne, Josh had gathered, had desires for a title for herself and second best no more suited her than it did her husband. She had also some stereotypical notion that it was up to the man to do the work and earn the trappings for the household and Josh didn't believe she had really done all that much to help John with his campaign save smile for the right press appearance and attend charity functions when the venue was expensive and the exposure promising.

John's cerulean stare darted across the room as he smiled, nodded and shook hands with guests whilst heading for his table. His gaze danced over Cadence briefly as he took her in and just as quickly dismissed her before tapping his wife's hand gently so that she would release his arm.

John and Suzanne exchanged a cheerful smile before they took their seats and engaged with their table companions.

Ten minutes after and everyone stood as the President and the First Lady arrived, ready to begin the banquet in honour of Prince Giovanni Amalfitano of San Saveno's visit.

\---

Another interval had come upon them. With Mallory for back up, Sam and C.J decided to take the opportunity to venture over to the Vice President's staff.

Sam could not keep the smug smile from his face as he escorted Mallory with his arm linked to hers. He knew heads turned at her beauty but that was not what filled him joy, it was the way she had looked up to him with a bright, suggesting stare and a warm smile. It was a smile that had expanded with delight when he had asked politely if he could secure her for most if not all the dances for the evening. He awkwardly stumbled through an explanation that he didn't want to keep her from dancing with Leo or Cadence but his intentions were that she was seen as his partner this evening.

Spying the First Lady Abigail 'Abbey' Bartlet making a beeline for Cadence's table, C.J suddenly halted.

“Um should we abort?” C.J quipped with a look of uncertainty.

Mallory, who had been sharing a small smile with Sam, looked confused as she glanced ahead.

“Why?” she queried.

“Well it's kind of hard to tell the First Lady's intentions, don't you think?” C.J quipped cautiously as she continued to watch Abbey.

Abigail Bartlet was well known as a formidable woman, she was one of the very few people the President tried to avoid saying no to. More than once Jed had even taken the coward's route of exploiting his staff to deliver disagreeable news to his wife in the hopes of avoiding her wrath. In that he had never succeeded. A doctor first, Abbey had, still did and always would stand equal to her husband. She used her platform as First Lady to push public issues of charity but also to press upon the importance of women's rights and their advancement in the world and for that she would always have C.J's admiration. However, like anyone she was flawed, and her stubbornness and bluntness was renowned. She could accept her failings but the problem was trying to tell her about them in the first place.

Mallory smiled as she glanced from C.J to Sam and saw fear in both their gazes. “It's just Abbey,” she teased.

“Jj...just...just who?!” Sam spluttered at her with a look of horror. “I mean, I know she's down to earth and far from egotistical and generally very approachable but would you call her that?”

Mallory gave Sam a scornful stare. “She is only human like the rest of us Sam,” she dismissed his concerns.

Sam broke from Mallory to look to C.J for backup. “Would you call her...well anything other than the appropriate title?” he finished his question lamely.

C.J gave Sam a sardonic stare in response, unimpressed with his inability to say the name Abbey as if he would turn to dust, although right now she was reluctant to voice it herself.

“Sam, as with anything,” C.J responded diplomatically, “it depends on the setting and circumstance. Right now at a public event like this,” she continued as she gestured to their surroundings with one hand, “no, I would not.”

Mallory folded her arms and shook her head at the pair. “You two are really making something out of nothing.”

Mallory looked ahead, watching the interaction between Abbey and Cadence, too far away to hear the words they exchanged.

Abbey had tried to be careful in how she approached Cadence. She didn't want to walk up and cast her shadow upon the young woman like some doomsday figure or make a drama out of approaching her, drawing the attention of a press they were trying to keep away from the McGarry daughter. However, Abbey had a carefree, bold nature about her and she couldn't resist showcasing it now as she addressed a woman so close to her to be considered family that she had heard much of but seen entirely too little of.

“Cadence Emma McGarry, why have I not seen you until now?” Abbey demanded brazenly as she approached the rectangular table from the front but a little to the left so that it was Gavin Drake who found himself in Abbey's shadow and not Cadence.

Cadence, who had been occupied with making a horse like figure out of her napkin in her lap, immediately jumped to attention at the voice.

Gavin was already rising to his feet but Abbey waved him down with a dismissive nod and an impatient shake of her hand.

“Yes, Mr. Drake, a good evening to you too,” Abbey said as she fixed her gaze upon him, “and not to be rude but I am here to talk with Miss Mc Garry. Perhaps you could be helpful and er,” Abbey arched her fair eyebrows slightly and gave the bewildered man a sweet smile, “engage yourself with guests on the veranda. Just for a few minutes if you please.”

Gavin stood up again, a little puzzled as to why she had waved him down when she wanted him gone anyway. He nodded politely and said, “good evening ma'am.”

Gavin gave a parting glance to Cadence. She had been pleasant this evening, commenting on the name tags on their tables and remarking how she wanted to meet the White House Calligrapher so she could learn to sign her name as he wrote it, particularly with the loop from the d to the e. Yet she had been fidgety too, making origami figures out of their napkins, using the rings they had been bound in to fashion up a collar for a dog and a cat.

Cadence, having manage to summon a calm while Abbey addressed Gavin, was now on her feet facing Abbey unflinchingly.

“You know, my mom doesn't even give me the full title,” she pointed out.

Abbey arched one eyebrow as she studied the woman's slightly defensive pose, knowing Cadence was readying herself in case she was going to be admonished. “I'm not your mother,” she retorted, “I am your family however if we dismiss the silly notion of blood and I deserve a check in now and again. You are as bad as Ellie, both of you hopelessly distant even when you're close by!”

Abbey gave the woman a wide smile to reassure Cadence that she came out of love and not to scold.

“Now, I've heard much, most of it exaggerated, and a good deal contradictory too but what I must know, is it true that it is you I owe an overdue thanks to for getting my husband and his VP to see some sense and present a unity, at least publicly?”

Cadence was a little surprised by the question but as she read the warmth in Abbey's eyes a smile slipped out across her face before giving way to a giggle. “Oh Abbey, I mean ma'am, I've missed you.”

“Well of course!” Abbey marvelled as she reached across the table and grasped Cadence's hands in her own. “As I assure my husband I am a figure to be missed and you my dear, you are too,” she added quietly as she squeezed Cadence's hands and gave her a serious stare.

Cadence's giggle faded at the comment and she nodded back sincerely. She glanced down to the origami littered table before turning a small smile back to the First Lady.

“You look lovely,” Cadence said.

Abbey wore a figure fitting dress of bronze taffeta, cut generously at the bust with an open cropped jacket of black and bronze brocade framing it, and spilling out in layers to the ground below.

“One of the perks I suppose,” Abbey mused, “of this role is that we have many opportunities to vary our appearances.”

Cadence cocked her head slightly at this, wondering if Abbey had another meaning in her words. She nodded along anyway as Abbey started to withdraw her hands.

Abbey's gesture was slow as she pulled Cadence's arms out slightly before she released her hands. It prompted Cadence to glance down and instinctively pull back with a look of embarrassment.

“Sometimes just showing ourselves as we are is enough,” Abbey murmured.

Cadence glanced up at her once more.

Abbey smiled again, saddened by how Cadence seemed to be burdened by something unsure in her grey-blue stare.

“It really is good to see you again Cady,” Abbey assured, “and I certainly hope to see more of you.”

Abbey glanced over her shoulder, aware that she needed to be seen mingling more. She gave Cadence a final smile and raised a hand to stroke Cadence's left arm gently.

“Well I think your sister, Sam and C.J have hovered uncomfortably in the middle of the floor for long enough,” she said. “I'll leave and let them come talk to you.”

Cadence smiled back. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Abbey released her and headed for Suzanne Hoynes. Abbey knew she delayed long enough in greeting her Eisenhower counterpart, to wait any longer might imply an insult.

Cadence watched her go, thinking dryly how similar it was to holding a court, where one felt that they couldn't engage their superior until their superior spoke first. She gave a bitter smile as she tried to dismiss the thought. Comparing democratic displays to European royalty that been born to power rather than elected had gotten her into trouble before.

Mallory, Sam and C.J attempted to wait for a few more seconds, giving Abbey time to move on before they approached Cadence's table.

“Cady,” Mallory greeted her chirpily. She reached down for a glass of sparkling wine on Cadence's table and took a sip. “My goodness we were standing there for ages and not one waiter came over.”

“They probably mistook Sam for one,” C.J murmured sardonically, “the way he kept talking about our next course.”

“I was making conversation,” Sam grumbled as he leaned forward slightly to give C.J a look of scorn past Mallory.

“Which course is that?” Cadence quipped. “I'm a little confused now because there was soup and those canapés with what I say was orange and honey with nutmeg but Gavin is adamant was melon and syrup,” she mused. She glanced down to her origami figures and pointed at each one as she counted. “Hmm, is it the fourth course now?” She looked to Sam pleadingly. “Please say it's dessert, I cannot cope with anything else.”

Sam gave her an apologetic stare as he shook his head. “I'm afraid not, it's the chicken now.”

Cadence stared at him aghast. “But we had fish, I don't understand, did people have a choice?”

“Didn't you read the menu?” Sam quipped as he looked at her in surprise.

“No,” Cadence scorned, “it looked like the Bill of Rights it was so damn long, I just admired the fancy font and the gilding. Hey, can you introduce me to the White House Calligrapher?” she asked suddenly as she looked to Sam with fresh enthusiasm. “I want them to teach me how to write my name.”

“Because you can't?” Sam queried dumbly.

Cadence frowned across the table at him. “Not like that.”

Mallory smiled as she finished the glass and placed it back onto the table.

“Um, wait,” C.J interrupted, “I'm confused too.”

“Well I wasn't taught with a quill,” Cadence grumbled.

C.J raised one hand in protest. “No, not that.” She gestured down to the napkin animals. “There are eight lovely little creatures here. What course are we on again?”

“Fourth, it's definitely fourth,” Sam insisted.

Cadence smiled at the press secretary. “I took Gavin's napkins too,” she explained, “and he asked for a few more.”

C.J nodded down to the napkins. “I see.” She lowered her hand and glanced up at Cadence curiously. “Can I have one?”

Cadence was surprised by the question. “Really?”

C.J nodded eagerly. “Yes, they're marvellous! I want it for the table, it can be a mascot for the evening.”

Cadence's smile widened. “Sure, take your pick.” She gestured to the origami with a wave of her hand.

Cadence was relieved at the topic, for a moment thinking Mallory might boldly ask what Abbey had said.

C.J reached down and plucked up the cat. “Aw, are they named?”

Cadence let out a mocking snort. “No, that would be taking a step from quirkiness into madness.”

C.J shrugged. “Well who cares, I'm going to name it,” she insisted as she held it carefully in one gloved hand. “I think Snowdrop.”

Sam gave the press secretary an odd stare out of the corner of his eye but he didn't bother commenting.

C.J continued to stare down at the napkin formed cat in her hand. “You know this is quite a talent.”

“A hobby,” Cadence corrected, “it helps me get my thoughts in order,” she admitted.

C.J nodded. “Uh huh, makes sense. Well, anyway, I just came to say hello and that it's good to see you again.”

Cadence nodded back to the taller woman. “Thank you. You too.”

“You know,” C.J continued, “there's been a suggestion about the West Wing and Eisenhower staffers sharing a dance, have you heard about this?”

Cadence nodded. “Briefly, in passing, I thought it was maybe a rumour.”

“No, perhaps it started that way but then Ed or Larry made a bet with Jason Watkins I think and now everyone is in on the action, Charlie included.”

Mallory folded her arms as she gave C.J a look of intrigue. “What exactly is the bet?” she pried.

“Whether we'll go through with it,” C.J admitted. “It's key staff apparently, which, I'm told, includes myself, Sam, Josh and Toby and of course, Cal, Gavin, Jeremy, Sandra and Cadence.”

“Not dad?” Mallory queried.

C.J gave Mallory a dry smile. “We wouldn't want the bet over before it even begins,” she retorted.

Cadence smiled at this. “Hmm and he and Cal would look so lovely doing a Cha, Cha.”

Mallory's arms parted and she gestured to her sister pointedly. “Couldn't he dance with Cadence? Wouldn't that resolve it?”

“Hmm I doubt the men were smart enough to consider exploiting the familial tie,” C.J mused. “Anyway,” she gave another smile and glanced to Cadence apologetically, “Toby and I thought it would be amusing if Cady and Josh danced.”

“Ah,” Mallory murmured with raised eyebrows as she exchanged a glance with Sam.

“Hmm maybe if Highway to Hell plays,” Cadence joked, “that seems to be our song.”

C.J raised a finger to tap the edge of her cheek with it. “You know, I can't guarantee it but maybe our orchestra could do that number for you,” she remarked sarcastically.

Cadence giggled at this. “Sure, right along with Ring of Fire. And I went down, down,” she sung lightly.

Even though she sung a line in a tease, C.J was still impressed by the young woman's flawless singing voice.

“Well, I'm still not sure I'm willing to dance with anyone,” C.J remarked, “none of you Eisenhower lot are even close to my height.”

“No but Gavin is an excellent dancer, I would suggest you match with him if you can,” Cadence mused.

“Very true,” Gavin chirped in as he returned to the table. He grinned up at C.J. “We can do the flamenco flamingo,” he teased.

C.J bristled at the code name whilst Sam struggled and failed to hide a smirk.

“How is it a code name if everyone knows it?” C.J lamented.

“I'm sorry, what am I missing?” Cadence pried as she glanced from Gavin to C.J in confusion.

“C.J you practically complained to everyone about it,” Sam reminded her, “that's how they know.”

“Know what?” Mallory quipped.

C.J sighed dramatically. “Oh alright but this is a need to know basis, top secret and all that,” she said as her voice dropped to a hush. She beckoned Mallory and Cadence over.

Cadence leaned across the table with a look of intrigue.

“It's the code name the Secret Service have for me,” she confessed grimly, “flamingo because someone has a sick sense of humour.”

Mallory laughed at this whilst Cadence looked fascinated.

“Codename?” Cadence quipped. “Huh, do we all have one?”

Mallory nodded pointedly to Mike lingering back against a wall, arms behind his back as having his hands out had let to him being offered discarded glasses one too many times.

“Well you must,” Mallory insisted.

“Hmm I wonder what it is.”

Cadence turned from the group immediately and hastened over to Mike who was a little puzzled as she approached him with a determined expression.

“Hey um...um...” Cadence faltered, unsure how to address the man without divulging his identity. “What do I call you here?”

Mike offered her a small smile, figuring subtly was lost by her approaching him anyway. “Casper,” he suggested.

“Seems a little rude,” she murmured.

“Only if you know which name it is,” Mike reminded her calmly.

Cadence halted and nodded as she pushed back a stray coil of hair. “Well Casper, what do you call me?” she pried. “When you're talking to your er...ghost friends.”

Mike raised his eyebrows slightly at this before his smile widened. “Raccoon,” he retorted.

Cadence was stunned at this. Her eyes widened as she studied him to spy the jest. “Really?” she sounded the word out almost as a squeal as an odd thrill of delight filled her.

Mike nodded. “Yep, I'm told it was duckling but there was a special request.”

“A request? By who?” Cadence demanded.

Mike shook his head at this. “I don't know, I didn't ask.”

“Can we petition our names? Not that I want mine changed,” Cadence added quickly with a wave of her hand. “Just curious.”

“No, they're code names, they get assigned,” Mike responded.

“Hmm.” Cadence gave a grin. “So when you talk about me to your friends-”

“The ghostly trio,” Mike corrected in a deadpan manner.

Cadence nodded. “Right, them, you call me raccoon?”

Mike nodded in answer. “Yes but if you keep saying it then we might not be able to.”

“Right, right,” Cadence said hastily. “Wouldn't want that. Hmm.” She kept grinning. “I really like that. Thanks Casper.”

She turned and returned to the others, almost beaming from ear to ear.

“What are you so happy about?” Mallory demanded. “What's your nickname?”

“Code name,” Sam corrected automatically. He winced slightly at the glance of annoyance Mallory gave him. “There's a difference,” he insisted, “one is for fun, and the other is for serious secure matters.”

“Yeah, flamingo sure seems serious,” Mallory sniped sardonically.

“I know, right,” C.J complained as she attempted to adjust her silvery wrap with one hand whilst cradling her origami cat.

“Raccoon,” Cadence remarked in a quiet murmur of joy as she only just managed to resist squealing it.

“Seriously?!” C.J cried out, unable to resist yelling it. “Well who do you talk to about that? Talk about favourites!”

C.J turned her distraught stare upon Sam. “Sam, you must know who deals with this.”

“I don't,” Sam insisted quietly, “but I would guess Ron, he is the head of the Secret Service after all.”

“What's your code name?” Mallory pried.

“I'm not sure,” Sam admitted, “but I don't think I need to know it, only the Secret Service do.”

“Ugh Sam don't be boring about this,” Mallory complained as she squeezed his arm gently, “it's not every day you get a code name.”

Cadence continued grinning as she thought of hers.

“Anyway,” C.J interrupted, “I can see they're serving out the chicken so we'd better get going.”

“Right,” Mallory agreed. She gave her sister another smile. “I'll see you after.”

Cadence nodded reassuringly as she took her seat.

“Hey Gavin, how hungry are you?” she quipped as a waiter arrived with a large serving of chicken with all the trimmings.

Gavin glanced over at her and gave a small grin. “Not hungry enough for two portions.”

Cadence frowned down at her plate. “That's what I thought,” she grumbled.

“If you don't want the First Lady lecturing you about starving orphans you'd better make a go of it,” Gavin warned.

“I'd say you're kidding but that sounds about right for Abbey,” Cadence murmured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The West Wing makes up countries and so do I. I also love Abbey, that episode were Jed spent so much time trying to persuade his staff to deliver her bad news was gold, along with accusing his little cheese. She's so deadpan, no nonsense she's wonderful.


	27. The Political Dance

Josh knew the best thing to do was just get it over and done with. He had to be a team player on this. Truthfully he'd rather walk on glass. He figured his moodiness came from several factors- he was here without a date, he had pissed off a Congressman, and he was being persuaded to dance with a woman he had little love for while her father, who was also his boss, watched on warily.

“Joshua,” C.J taunted him in a singsong voice as she leaned slightly to put herself more level with him. “Are you asking her or not?”

Charlie was grinning from ear to ear, confident that he had a win. He had bet on the dance happening, more than that he had specifically bet on Josh and Cadence agreeing to dance.

Initially, Zoey had been cross with her boyfriend for betting on her friend until she learned that Cadence had offered up ten dollars for C.J dancing with Gavin and that Mallory had made a twenty dollar wager on all of the chosen participants betting. Now Zoey was as invested in the outcome as Charlie, although she was forbidden from making a financial contribution.

Toby, who had put down thirty dollars for Cadence and Josh to dance, had called it unethical for a minor to gamble.

C.J pointing out that it was unethical for anyone to gamble in the White House, had been promptly silenced when Danny had disclosed her wager. C.J had bet against Josh and Cadence dancing.

“Remember C.J you're not allowed to influence your bet,” Danny chided her.

C.J gave the reporter an innocent look. “I'm not, it's an innocent question and we will be here all night if he doesn't make a decision.”

The redhead whirled round to face Josh again. “Of course there's no pressure,” she said sweetly with a grin.

“Jackal,” Josh scorned her as he smiled sardonically back.

Her grin widened as she shook her head. “Not tonight,” she retorted.

“I didn't meant that, never mind,” Josh trailed off quickly. He knew C.J had understood his meaning.

Josh glanced past her to Danny. The reporter was smiling, which was nothing new for him as he was generally a laid back, pleasant, charming man but tonight he seemed to ooze with merriment. Although he was here on official business like the rest of them he seemed relaxed, enjoying the atmosphere rather than working the scene.

Josh wondered darkly if Danny had come to know about his quarrel with Senator Rosencroft yet. It had been a little more public than Josh had expected as the senator was one of those irritating people who felt that raising his voice was the best way to convey his anger. Josh had banked on the senator not wanting to make a scene at a public function and he had been wrong.

Josh swallowed down a sigh as he turned his gaze forward. He caught a flash of purple out of the corner of his eye and gave a small smile. It was Donna. At work her attire was typical for an office worker on a budget and her makeup was minimal giving her a somewhat ordinary appearance. At least in Josh's opinion but now he wondered if it was just because he was so used to her presence that he had let her slip into the ordinary. Tonight she was stunning. Her normally straight blonde hair was curled up into loose locks, and her make up was a subtle smokey drawing attention to her eyes. Josh had never really noticed until tonight how Donna's eyes could gleam with a certain suggestion of allure.

Donna didn't even notice Josh's curious gaze. She was engaged with talking to a member of Prince Giovanni Amalfitano's entourage.

The Deputy Chief of Staff forced himself to look past Donna and keep searching until he spied Cadence McGarry. She was standing talking to Gavin and Jeremy. Josh didn't like that there was going to be close witnesses for this but he figured he was better getting it over and done with. Judging from the looks Gavin and Jeremy were giving Josh and C.J he figured they were having a similar conversation.

Josh raised a finger in question as he glanced to Charlie. “What are the terms here anyway? Are we all dancing to the same song?”

Charlie smiled and nodded. “Yes, we thought that would be photogenic.”

“Photogenic,” Josh repeated. He gave Charlie an accusatory stare. “You mean you want a memory of it.”

“It would be nice,” Charlie admitted.

“Right. Charlie, when you next need a favour don't ask me,” Josh retorted.

Josh sucked in a breath before striding forward, feeling a little like the condemned man venturing over the Berlin wall as he crossed from the President's party to the Vice President's. He wondered how it was that the White House had turned into high school.

Cadence gave Josh a wide, shit eating grin that let him know straight away she wasn't going to make this easy.

“Good evening Josh,” she greeted brightly.

“Evening,” he retorted with a more subdued cheer.

Josh glanced from Cadence to Gavin and Jeremy, hoping they would leave. Gavin was grinning back cockily, eager to watch the show whilst Jeremy looked a little sympathetic. Josh held Jeremy's gaze for a tad longer than intended. Jeremy was meant to dance with Donna if all went to plan, which Josh hoped would prove difficult for him now that she was chatting up a handsome European nobleman.

“How can we help you?” Cadence queried eagerly as she folded her arms and looked at Josh expectantly.

“Um well,” Josh began awkwardly. He shook off the uneasy shadows of his youth and pressed a hand to his brow. He was tired and he didn't want to play the game. “Yeah forget it,” he grumbled. “It's been a long night.”

“For me it's been a long month,” Cadence countered.

Her grey-blue gaze softened and she relaxed her stance slightly. “Tell you what Josh, ask me the question, don't make me ask and maybe I can make the roses smell sweet again.”

Josh gave a quizzical look as he pondered her odd statement. He realised what she had to be referring to. “Word spreads fast,” he said dryly.

“I'd say what have you got to lose but I think that's a bill on women's rights in the workplace,” Cadence responded. “One the President is keen to pass because the First Lady is keen on it,” she reminded him.

Josh gave an angry sigh as he waved his palms at Cadence to silence her. “Alright, alright,” he said angrily. “Would you dance with me?” he snapped out the question.

Cadence clapped a hand to her chest and answered with a mock Southern accent. “Why Joshua Lyman I thought you'd neva ask!”

Jeremy let out a low chuckle at this before raising a hand to his mouth as he tried to hide it.

Josh gave Cadence a biting smile. “Yes well, they always say better to face your demons and a dance with the devil has got to cover that,” he grumbled.

Cadence raised her hand to her mouth to feign a yawn. “You've got to come up with better insults than devil and demon,” she scolded him. “Why not try Shakespeare or something? 'I do desire we may be better strangers', now that's clever!”

“I'll save my wit for better adversaries,” Josh retorted smugly.

Cadence frowned at this and folded her arms again. “When do we do this?” she queried with a hint of annoyance.

Josh gave a shrug and glanced over to C.J and Charlie. “They want us all to dance at the same time if it's happening. I mean I don't really care, the night isn't getting better so it may as well get worse.”

Cadence's frown deepened at this. “Really, you upset a senator and it's the end of the world, try some real suffering Josh.”

She turned and walked off before he could respond.

Josh watched quietly as she veered back to her table. He felt a small jab of guilt pierce through him and tried to smother it. He certainly didn't want to feel bad for Cadence McGarry. Given all the problems she had caused for them lately where did she get off acting like the only one who had been hurt was her?

Gavin tutted loudly drawing Josh's irate brown gaze upon him. Gavin just grinned back. He looked every inch the wealthy elitist in a designer black tuxedo with a crisp snow white shirt and a waistcoat of black with subtle silver embroidery. The idea of black tie was that the men should have been on a largely equal placing since they couldn't vary too much on their outfits except it never quite worked out that way. Somehow one could tell the difference in the value of the suits and then there were the embellishments- the silk handkerchiefs, waistcoats, cummerbunds, watches, shoes, and rings, they were akin to the feathers of a mating bird, flashy and extravagant to draw the admiration of the fairer sex and put their rivals to shame.

Gavin was good looking enough not to need much help but one couldn't deny that his sharp fashion sense and obvious wealth didn't hurt.

By comparison Jeremy was humbler and plainer which reflected his decidedly quiet, neutral nice guy persona. He should have been the preferred one but his muted neutrality had him slip into Gavin's cocky, commanding shadow all too often this evening.

“C.J has two left feet,” Josh blurted out childishly, “and she's wearing some sharp heels so good luck with your toes.”

Josh departed with that warning, retreating back to the safety of his own people.

C.J and the others were all waiting where Josh had left them, at once curious for his news.

“She stormed off, so is that a no?” C.J asked hopefully with a grin she couldn't contain.

“She did not storm off,” Josh retorted heatedly. “In fact she said yes alright, we're dancing.”

“Unlucky C.J,” Danny teased.

C.J folded her arms and shook her head. “Hey no claiming wins until it actually happens, she could still say no,” she insisted.

“So could you,” Danny murmured.

C.J seemed to miss his comment but Josh noted it and the dipped look of wistfulness that went with it.

“No bet influencing,” Toby commented sternly as he counted out notes in his hand.

Charlie glanced at his watch. “Well we have the President and the First Lady dancing first,” he said, “then the Vice President and the Second Lady, then Prince Giovanni Amalfitano and his party will be invited to dance. After that you guys should.”

Josh shrugged. “Sounds swell,” he muttered wearily. “I'm going to get a drink.”

Josh took a vantage point at the back of the room to observe the dancing. He drank little knowing it would be poor show to do otherwise. He watched with disinterest as the President and the First Lady took the floor first. Of course they were graceful, long practised at it but favouring a slow, twirling ballroom dance that was safe and brief. The President was tired and still feeling the burden of devouring so many courses.

It was John and Suzanne who put on the show unsurprisingly. Suzanne was full of energy and enthusiasm. She sought out their audience, turning the perfect smile at just the right time for the cameras yet she never put a step wrong. Josh marvelled as she simultaneously managed to dance through a brisk complicated step without hesitation and yet never missed a single lens.

Josh's grim mood worsened when he saw Donna up with Prince Giovanni Amalfitano's party as the chosen partner of his companion. She laughed gleefully as she was spun about the room with great enthusiasm to a slightly livelier tune conjured up mostly by the brass section. Josh was careful to watch Donna's dance partner's hands but she seemed indifferent to where they were put.

Josh's sullen stare was interrupted by the approach of Cadence. He heard her heels upon the smooth floor and glanced over briefly to see who was intruding. Spying the young fair haired woman who was to him a herald of doom, he immediately looked ahead. He knew it was childish but he had no energy to listen to her berate him and reject his request to dance.

“Senator Rosenencroft will support the bill,” she addressed him quietly. “One would think he would do it because you know, we women deserve it but alas no. He wanted time with the President to discuss a policy related to tax on crops, I settled on a face to face meeting with the Vice and advised it was more favourable since modernisation for the rural parts of the country has always been a personal interest of the VP.”

Josh glanced up at Cadence in bafflement. “But I insulted you,” he pointed out. “At least you think that I did,” he added defensively.

She was standing with her hands raised to her hips in a formidable pose. “You did,” she said firmly, “and I went and I had some wine and I figured swaying the senator was less a favour to you than a gain to the party as a whole.”

“Uh huh.” Josh almost felt a smile creeping out as he admired her attempt to distance from the suggestion that she had helped him.

Cadence glanced over to the dance floor. “Anyway, our grand moment is coming, shall we?”

Josh followed her gaze, he had missed the end of the dance and Donna's departure. He noticed the blonde had not gone far and was standing on the edge now looking at Jeremy with a warm smile.

Josh stood up and pushed down the creases in his shirt before nodding. “I suppose we shall. Now you will be careful not to have your hands on my rear, I don't consent to that,” he jested.

Cadence pulled a face at this. “I'd sooner touch a cactus.”

“And you'll let me lead,” Josh insisted as they started to walk. “I am the man.”

“Not in this lifetime,” Cadence retorted cheerfully with a smirk.

“Well I know more about leading than you do,” he retorted smugly, “my boss did get the leadership role after all.”

“Yes Josh exactly,” Cadence replied sweetly as she kept her stare ahead, “your boss did, not you.”

They reached the dance floor where the others were waiting. Everyone had agreed to the dance, much to the amusement of their audience, although there were a surprising number of political figures muttering curses over financial losses.

The President scowled slightly as he saw Josh and Cadence approach the dance floor and murmured, “damn it.”

Abbey, seated beside him, glanced at him curiously. With a put on ignorance she quipped, “Jed darling, why are you cursing?”

“No reason dear,” he retorted quickly, “no reason at all.”

“Really? I thought you had forty reasons for it,” Abbey jested with a teasing grin.

Jed glanced at her in surprise before waving his hands outwards at her. “Nooo, no, no,” he said briskly. “I know what this is.”

“Oh Jed really what are you talking about?” Abbey retorted with mock annoyance slipping into her face.

“Entrapment,” he pounced upon the word as he pointed at her with one finger. “You're trying to get me to make some admittance of guilt well it's not happening.”

Abbey turned her gaze forward. “I'm trying to do no such thing. I imagine that's your conscience getting at you,” she then added quietly with another mocking grin, “or your wallet.”

The band struck up a lively tune that had Toby flustering immediately. He didn't even really know his dance partner, Clare, he knew she'd something to do with speech writing but that was it, he didn't even know her surname.

The tune got livelier and faster causing some chaos on the dance floor.

“Dance Clare Jean!” Jed called out. “Toby that's a woman you're guiding not a sack of flour! For goodness sakes people we don't want Prince Amalfitano telling his people Americans can't dance!”

“Sir really,” Leo chided him.

Leo had come to stand behind Jed and Abbey to watch the dancing with them. His grey gaze suddenly widened as Cadence urged Josh to send her out in a wide spin before he pulled her close and inadvertently grasped at the side of her thigh to steady her.

“Josh Lyman watch those hands!” Leo roared as he glowered out at his subordinate.

Jed immediately started laughing at this. “Leo it's how people dance,” he mocked him.

“That's not how I learned,” Leo grumbled.

Josh winced slightly as he heard his boss' yell even over the music. He was horribly conscious of where his hands were even before Leo's admonishing. Cadence's dress was backless and he wasn't going any lower to touch cloth. He embraced her loosely, all too aware of how his palm was starting to sweat against her spine.

Gavin winced as C.J stomped on his feet a couple of times as the music seemed to accelerate to a pace he could barely keep up with.

“This is great!” C.J enthused as she moved around rapidly with a gleeful smile.

Josh caught Gavin's wince and grinned over at him mockingly as he back stepped before moving left.

“Why the hell did I agree to this?” Toby complained loudly over the fast paced strings performance. He stomped loudly on the outskirts of the dancefloor as he attempted to move round it but kept looking ahead for obstacles instead of at his partner.

“I wasn't going to lose anything if I stayed out of it!” he lamented. “You couldn't bet on yourself!”

Clare ignored him, looking woeful as she prayed for the tune to end.

Charlie, Zoey and Mallory all stood at the edge of the dance floor, clapping jovially. As Josh and Cadence came towards them, Mallory enthusiastically wolf whistled.

“Go Cady!” Mallory cheered.

“Hey Josh I hope you like the music, I thought you guys would appreciate something lively!” Charlie called to them.

“Wait this is your fault?” Toby yelled as he heard Charlie's call. He glowered over at the young man and vowed vengeance.

Josh and Cadence managed to complete three more trips around the dance floor before the music mercifully ended. The dancers were surprised with the applause they were praised with and pleased as Prince Giovanni and his companions seemed delighted with their performance as they clapped enthusiastically.

Cadence gave Josh a small smile before breaking from him. “Now you can tell everyone you danced with the devil and survived,” she joked.

Panting and red faced, Toby stormed over to Charlie with a scowl.

Spying him coming, Charlie seized Zoey's hand and hastened her away through the crowds to the opposite side of the room.

Feeling warm and a little fatigued, Cadence headed first to the ever watchful Agent Casper.

“I'm going to go outside for a bit,” she informed him. “Can you give me a few minutes?” she queried pleadingly.

Agent Casper glanced to the two tall patio doors which were guarded by two neutral faced Secret Service agents. His stare returned to Cadence and he nodded.

“I'm going to be near,” he advised quietly, “but inside for a few minutes.”

Cadence nodded back before heading to the doors with relief. Outside them was a well lit patio with a few small groups of people sharing cigars, cigarettes and a few drinks. It was bitterly cold outside, which kept most in and there were no outdoor heaters so no one would be encouraged to linger there for long.

Cadence slipped out and bypassed another pair of agents on duty on the opposing side. She gave a small grin thinking to herself that it was a little like stepping through the looking glass.

She breathed in the cool air as she stepped out to take a few of the cloudy night sky. Out here the voices were just a low murmur instead of a deafening collision of conversation. She felt a little calmer as for just a moment she didn't have to wear a mask of deceiving joy. Sure tonight was good, fun even, but not enough to suddenly shake off her woes and uncertainty. Slipping back into her P.R role wasn't easy and yet she knew the only person who was making it difficult was her.

“That's a very dramatic dress,” John murmured as he stepped up beside her.

Cadence had heard his footsteps approaching from behind, light on the stone and caught a whiff of a familiar oak aftershave that gave her a clue as to who was arriving.

She nodded as she continued to stare up at the sky, spying out the white pinpricks of stars almost lost behind veils of ghostly grey clouds.

“Yes, I suppose I hoped people would just take in the dress,” she confessed.

John took a stance close to her, frowning as he surveyed budding bumps on her arms.

“And is there a coat to go with it?” he pried.

“Of course,” she retorted, “at least,” she added with uncertainty, “I arrived with it. I don't know where it went to.” She glanced up at John in puzzlement. “Does the White House have some sort of cloakroom?”

John smiled at this. “You are terrible with keeping a coat,” he scorned her, “and I imagine they don't call it a cloakroom,” he retorted.

“No, maybe it's State Room of Over Garments,” Cadence ventured. “Do you know they have an entire collection of China, that each President can commission one, I mean I know there are a lot of these functions but it seems a waste of good China not to use the existing one. Although, President Bartlet hasn't commissioned any yet, I'm going to suggest phoenixes.”

John arched a dark eyebrow at this. “Not raccoons?”

“I'm a realist sadly,” Cadence retorted. She gave John a grin before glancing about them. Satisfied that no one was within hearing, she stretched up to him, rising onto her tiptoes and raising a hand in a conspirational manner.

John felt himself tensing as she brought her face close to his and he caught a whiff of her light winter rose perfume. He wondered if she was really going to be so bold as to snatch a kiss and a thrill of excitement raced through him in anticipation.

“My code name is raccoon,” she informed him happily in a hushed voice.

John was stunned. When she shrank back to the ground he felt a prickle of dismay as he realised there was no kiss forthcoming.

“Why are you out here?” John pried.

As he subdued his primal urges at feeling her close to him he finally noticed that her stare didn't match the happiness she was trying to convey.

“I'm tired,” Cadence admitted as she dipped her head slightly. “I didn't think it would take so much out of me.”

“Dancing?” John queried.

“Just the evening as a whole,” she replied vaguely, “after...everything. I feel like I'm on probation, everyone's watching to see what new wild thing I might do. Not that I blame anyone,” she added awkwardly. “I mean what with everything I did do.” She glanced around awkwardly and then flashed John another hollow smile. “You know I'm glad that photo is in the news now, it actually takes away from everything else.”

“Yes. I didn't leak that photo you know,” John murmured.

Cadence glanced at him with surprise. “Sir I wasn't-”

John cut her off as he gave her a serious stare. “I know I like to show off,” he said quietly, “but I wouldn't do it like that.”

Cadence nodded. “I know sir, I know you didn't leak it.”

“I wouldn't do it for points or popularity either even though it's served to get me that,” he continued. “My post as Vice President might limit my opportunities to reach for the wider audience I need but I wouldn't stoop to this.”

“Sir, I know,” Cadence said firmly. She gave him a questioning look. “Has someone said that you did?” she pried.

“There were a few innocent suggestions of it by reporters to Jeremy, I thought you had heard and it was why you haven't been near my office,” John confessed. “The Republican fans think, as one put it, that I'm not satisfied with funerals and weddings.” John gave a biting smile at this remark.

Cadence turned to face John fully, staring up at him though she found it a little difficult to meet his intense blue stare. She gave him a small smile as she tried to placate him.

“I heard but I know you wouldn't do that,” she addressed him in a serious tone, “and those Republicans would do well to remember that twelve Vices went on to become Presidents, including former President Truman.”

John raised his right hand up to his hip, pressing light wrinkles into his designer black trousers. “I didn't mean to turn this into a pity party,” he jested sardonically. “And what's with the sir, Cady?”

Cadence glanced about them again but there was no one nearby and the few who had been out here had retreated back to the warmth of the party leaving them alone.

“It's appropriate,” she retorted quietly.

“Cady I'm not sure what to say anymore,” he admitted, “or what you want me to say. I've thought about it for a while, my feelings for you. After seeing you like that in Colombia, well it brought it all to the surface. I think about you every day, I wonder about you when I don't see you and I worry about you when you do. You haven't told anyone about Colombia yet, not in full and you need to.”

John raised his free hand as Cadence opened her mouth to protest. She had taken on a defensive stance, raising her arms up to cross in front of her chest.

“Cady I'm not going to stir all that up tonight, it's a party and you deserve to enjoy it and be happy. I saw you dancing with Josh and I did want it to be me, I did.” John cocked his head slightly and gave another bitter smile before shaking his head. “I'm tormenting us both with this, I can see that but damn it if I don't just tell you I'm always going to wonder about that too.”

“Your wife is standing in there sir,” Cadence retorted quietly. Her expression was torn, her mouth in a line that tried to be neutral but her eyes sparkled with emotion as she wrestled between grief and anger.

Cadence turned from the Vice President and headed for the doors, slipping back into the warmth and the light. She knew it was cowardly but she had been telling him the truth when she said she was exhausted, whatever complication he wanted to stir up she could not handle it tonight.

Cadence spied Zoey standing with Charlie, waving to Cadence excitedly as she spotted her. Cadence veered towards them with a bright smile.

“Cady cat you owe me a dance!” Zoey called to her jovially. “Josh can't have all the fun!” she teased as she reached out with both hands to grasp Cadence by the waist to pull her close.

Cadence winced slightly before feigning a smile. The gesture was missed by Zoey but immediately picked up on by Gina.

“Are you hurt?” Gina snapped quietly as she immediately stepped forward with a wary look.

Cadence kept her smile as she shook her head, wishing that just for once Gina wasn't so astute. She realised it was a selfish thought considering Gina's job. Zoey was looking worried now however and had dropped her hands from Cadence and Cadence did not want her worrying.

“I'm fine,” Cadence insisted, “it's an old wound acting up, that's all. You're right Zoey, I do owe you a dance.”

Cadence held out her hand to Zoey. She caught Gina's wary stare and tried to ignore it as Zoey giggled and took Cadence's waiting hand.

“We're just going to the dance floor,” Cadence informed Gina awkwardly.

Gina nodded. “I know,” she said stiffly.

Cadence's gaze shifted to Charlie.

Charlie smiled and waved them on. “Go ahead, I insist,” he said. “Zoey has been talking about dancing with you for a while.”

Cadence gave Zoey a wide grin. “Well I must oblige then, let's go.”

The pair headed off to the dance floor followed discreetly by Agent Casper and Gina.

John, who had returned to the room just a couple of minutes after Cadence, paused to stare over at the dancing. He watched carefully as Cadence's blue hem spun in the air as she and Zoey danced a mocking tango with some wild turns. Her fair hair flew up and twirled with each spin and her head seemed to blur keeping her expression a mystery to him. He gave a slight frown, suddenly jealous of her young companion, wishing he could have that carefree moment with her.

John turned away and headed for his wife. He met her amongst the small crowds as she retreated from the bathrooms, ready to return to a circle of socialites and unimpressed to meet an obstacle in the form of her husband.

John raised a hand to embrace Suzanne lightly and kissed her cheek with a smile.

Suzanne smiled back but there was a tenseness to her bold, fire truck red mouth. John stared at the red lipstick and loathed it, it was too bright and had him thinking of blood and rage and pain. Red was passion sure but passion could be hate as easy as love. He realised Cadence never wore lipstick and that anytime he kissed her he was only ever tasting her, not some smooth border of makeup that would stain him.

“John I have people waiting for me,” Suzanne informed him. “It's been difficult getting out of the shadow of the First Lady and the novelty act my husband has become. Funerals and weddings John, that quote is doing well,” she sneered.

Despite the scorn of her voice, Suzanne's mask never fell and to any observer she looked like a devoted wife, smiling and having a wonderful, merry evening with her husband.

“Well I'm glad you're having a good evening darling,” John retorted with a feigned smile. “I didn't give the quote by the way.”

“No, you held your tongue, are you ever going to get that balance right? It was the same with the campaign, you were never quite ready to voice a real opinion and look how we ended.”

Suzanne gestured outwards to their surroundings, still with her false smile in place. Her gaze paused upon Abbey and Jed. “Close dear but still on the outside.”

“Right, go talk with your friends,” John murmured.

Suzanne nodded and leaned into him to finally return his kiss, giving him a chaste one on the mouth. “I will.”

John tasted her fiery anger in a brief, waxy mouthful of red lipstick.

They parted and John found himself approached by an eager senator and his wife. He readied up the smile, knowing he had to muster up the charm he was known for. These people could be his allies when the term was up and it was his turn for the title. 

He held out his hand to welcome the senator's handshake but his smile dimmed slightly as over the senator's shoulder he glimpsed another flash of midnight blue.


	28. A Quirky Day

Josh Lyman sensed the trap too late. Leo was smiling which, given the disastrous vote yesterday, was unusual. There had been a policy on foreign aid put to the senate. The Vice President had helped the President put up a good argument against it, building on the foundations of his previous speech about needing aid at home. However their friend from Texas, Senator Matt Whyte, was back at the senate and his had been the deciding vote for the policy, which was to take away twenty-five percent of government aid for farmers and put it in the funding for less fortunate countries. It was obvious Senator Whyte cared little for the plight of Third World countries but apparently his desire for vengeance in the senate was great enough to shadow his personal opinion.

Now here they were, two days later and still reeling from a blow the senator was apparently promising his allies was just 'the warm up'. The loss of the vote still stung and the fear of what vote the senator might ruin next was high. It was exactly why Josh could not understand Leo's smile as he stepped into the Roosevelt Room.

Despite being morning, the lamps were on as the heavy grey of the rain cloud morning managed to cast shadows through the windows. Someone had an idea that as it was day time having the blinds open was better than closed. Over the mild hum of idle conversation there was a loud patter of heavy rain against the windowpanes. Josh hoped that it was day for staying in the nice, warm and dry White House.

Josh stepped up the already crowded table to take a seat when his brown stare fell upon Cadence McGarry. As he reached for his chair he blurted out, “what are you doing here?”

“Josh,” Leo scolded him with a warning stare.

Leo stood at the end of the table in a smart, pale brown suit with a striped shirt looking ready to begin a presentation.

“I'm here for the cheese,” Cadence retorted cheerfully as she smiled up at Josh.

Cadence was seated beside Sam wearing a grey skirt and jacket suit with a grey and black stripped scarf donned loosely about her neck. Her grey-blue eyes bore an edge to them and her blonde hair was fixed up in a high, wavy, messy ponytail with strands spilling out at the front. It was a style that was almost cute but verging a little too much on sloppy as if her efforts were half-hearted.

“The cheese?” Josh echoed dumbly. His expression turned to fear as he released the back of his chair. “Oh no.” Josh looked to Leo pleadingly. “Leo no.”

“Too late to run Josh,” C.J remarked wearily, “just sit down, shut up and accept you'll be getting the worst case because you're late.”

The press secretary was on Josh's right side cradling a large cup of takeaway coffee as if she could absorb the caffeine through the cup.

“What? That's not fair!” Josh snapped as he looked down at C.J. “I didn't know this was happening or I wouldn't have come at all!”

Leo crossed his hands behind his back and gave his subordinate a frown.

“Josh, I'm not starting until you're seated,” Leo scolded.

“Leo I feel like we should be considering how we address this change to foreign policy,” Toby interrupted with a grumble.

Toby was seated on C.J's right looking appropriately bored as he spun a pen round on the table.

C.J released her cup and rested on the table, she then raised her hands through her hair and let out a loud groan.

“Why can't you two learn?” she groaned. “He's going to make us go through this, all you can determine is whether it's slow or fast.”

She leaned back and thrust her arms out in the direction of the closed doors dramatically.

“The doors may as well be barred,” she lamented.

Josh sighed before taking a seat at last as he realised that C.J was right, there was no escape.

Leo gave a small smile of satisfaction before he brought his arms round to his sides and faced them straight down the centre of the table.

“Andrew Jackson, in the main foyer of his White House had a big block of cheese,” Leo began loudly. The block of cheese was huge- over two tons,” he enthused with a voice of awe and a wave of his left hand. “And it was there for any and all who might be hungry-”

“Leo,” Josh whined, “we know this speech.”

“I don't,” Cadence remarked.

Josh gave the young woman a sardonic smile across the table and she returned it with a wide grin.

Sam wondered quietly if it was the polite political version of offensive hand gestures. He imagined if they had more stationary available they would be using rulers to flick rolled up paper balls at each other.

Sam clasped his palms together as he faced Leo with an attentive look. Big Block of Cheese day never bothered him as much as it did Toby and Josh, Sam just considered it as a nice quirk.

“President Jackson wanted the White House to belong to the people,” Leo continued emotionally as if he was reciting the script of a play, “so from time to time, he opened his doors to those who wished an audience.”

Leo paused and glanced over at his team and daughter with a pleased stare.

“It is in the spirit of Andrew Jackson that I, from time to time, ask senior staff to have face-to-face meetings with those people representing organizations who have a difficult time getting our attention,” Leo concluded. “We are the people's servants after all.”

“Wait,” Cadence interrupted as she leaned forward to face her father down the centre of the table, “is the cheese metaphorical?”

Leo frowned back at his daughter. “Not exactly, President Jackson did share a block of cheese with the people.”

“And we're honouring this by doing the same?” she quipped with a hopeful stare.

Sam smiled at this whilst Josh looked over at her with an appalled expression.

“No,” Leo retorted in exasperation. “Cady what we do here is, for this one day, give people who otherwise have difficulties getting our attention a chance to voice their concerns to us.”

“He means whack jobs,” Toby remarked condescendingly as he glanced over at Cadence briefly.

“Um so let's be clear about this,” Cadence said as she waved her hand in a circle over the table, “you're saying there is no cheese.”

“Wait, did you really think there'd be a giant block of cheese?” Josh sneered as a grin slipped out. Despite his woes he couldn't help but feel a small sliver of joy at this.

Cadence frowned back at adversary. “You kept talking about Big Block of Cheese Day, how was I was supposed to know it was a metaphor? I want my cheese damn it!”

“Cadence language,” Leo scolded her. He shook his head. “What is with you and cursing in this building.”

Toby sighed dramatically as he leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling. “It's like we're at school,” he grumbled, “and being ordered to help the stupider kids with their assignments.”

“I like cheese,” Cadence complained as she turned her frown on her father. “If I knew this was about giving crazy people a chance to talk I wouldn't have come over!”

“Right because the Eisenhower is definitely more appealing than this,” Josh mocked.

“Cadence,” Leo said sternly, “you said you wanted to learn some of what we did here to help the people so that you could learn some new practices to introduce to the Eisenhower Team and so you could encourage team building between the West Wing and the Eisenhower to promote good relations between the President and Vice President's staffers.”

Sam smiled encouragingly at Cadence at this. “Like with our dancing,” he enthused, “you turned that into a positive spin for the press. We all looked well in that.”

It was true, Cadence had slipped into Public Relations mode the morning after the State Diner and was quick to find and promote pictures of the Vice President and President's team dancing together, even though it had meant showcasing a photograph of herself and Josh. It was fluff of course with some harmless quotes about what designer they were wearing and how some of them had two left feet and so forth. Ultimately it had led to some nice feel good pieces that not only detracted from all the drama in Colombia but had the people reassured again that their President and Vice President really were on the same team and working well together. The absence of a decent photo of John and Jed together apparently did not matter.

C.J let out a mocking snort at Sam's comment. “You're just saying that because you were so photogenic with Sandra,” she taunted.

“Well it certainly helped detract from other photos,” Josh remarked pointedly as he gave Cadence a serious stare.

Cadence ignored them as she continued to stare up the table at her father in disbelief.

“I thought there was gonna be cheese!” Cadence cried out. “The P.R thing was a lie, I was going to use this an excuse to implement a cheese day at the Eisenhower! You know I like cheese dad, especially those cute little cubes that come on sticks with grapes, now why weren't there any of them at the State Dinner? Fifty courses and no cheese,” she commented crossly. “I mean the menu was longer than Moses' stone tablets but no one could fit cheese in there?”

“Enough about the cheese!” Leo admonished her. “The cheese is metaphorical! I'm going to pretend you didn't just say you lied about wanting to promote good relations for cheese. You're here now and you're going to pick a group to meet with just like everyone else here!”

“And what fun choices do we have this time?” Toby queried sarcastically.

“Toby, The Secret Society of the Gold Rush, get into it,” Leo ordered.

Toby sat upright with a startled look. “I thought we were picking what we wanted!” he protested.

Leo gave him a taunting grin. “You've all made me mad so I'm picking for you.”

“I have to ask,” Josh piped up, “how are they secret if Toby's meeting them?”

Leo ignored him.

“I'm really starting to see where Mallory gets the authoritative side from,” Sam mused.

Cadence nodded agreeably. “Yeah if dad wasn't in politics he'd have been a good teacher,” she retorted.

“Cadence and Josh, since you're so friendly today, The Foundation of Lakes and Lake Wildlife, that's yours,” Leo ordered them.

“That sounds...okay,” Cadence murmured as she wondered what the trap was.

“What?! No!” Josh snapped as he gestured to her with one hand. “She was talking to Sam, Leo, not me! And she's a Eisenhower cuckoo! This is a crazy thing but it's our thing!”

Cadence forked her tongue out at him.

“Josh the decision's made,” Leo scolded him. “C.J, you and Sam can meet with The Brotherhood of Bells.”

“Alright then,” C.J said as she turned an amused blue stare on Sam. She nodded at him. “The Bells Brothers, got it.”

“Why am I alone?” Toby wailed.

“Where do we start with that,” C.J retorted brightly. When Toby turned a glower her way she smiled at him.

“You were the sassiest this morning,” Leo informed him.

“Sassiest?” Toby echoed. He stood up from his seat and gestured outwards to Leo with his hands. “Leo sometimes, I mean, we are still running the country right? I didn't dream that.”

“Go meet with the people, they're part of the country,” Leo ordered him. “And Toby,” he pointed at him sternly, “they're pro annexing California to Mexico and we don't need anymore potential wars on the horizon so try not to cause a nation upset over it.”

“Did we annex California?” Cadence queried. “So wouldn't it just be returning California to Mexcio?”

“So now you're a Pancho Villa as well as Benedict Arnold,” Josh retorted.

“Josh, Pancho Villa was part of the Mexican Revolution in the early 1900s, California was taken by America at the end of the Mexican-American War in the 1840s,” Cadence scorned him.

Josh raised his hand. “Leo,” he shouted whilst he kept his glare on Cadence, “I want to change partners mine keeps putting a negative spin on the American government!”

“I want to change assignments,” Toby complained.

Leo just waved him out of the room with a 'shooing' gesture.

“Are we really not getting any cheese?” Cadence asked as she stood up. “Not even a sample? Or a reward slice at the end?”

“You want a slice of cheese for a reward?” C.J quipped with a dubious stare at the other woman.

“I had visions of a table spread of worldwide cheeses,” Cadence complained, “I'm gutted.”

“Josh take the poor girl out for some crackers and cheese for breakfast,” Sam teased.

“She's not a parrot Sam,” C.J scolded him.

Josh scowled and turned another hopeful stare on Leo. Leo gave him a withering look in response.

“Let's find these people about lakes then,” Josh muttered.

\----

The Vice President glanced down the polished mahogany table at Cal, Gavin and Jeremy. They were going through their morning briefing for the day and mercifully it was mundane. John didn't think he would welcome dullness but Colombia had taken a lot out of him and he was ready for a reprieve.

John's cerulean stare darted up to the tall glass windows at the back of the room. They gave a glimpse of greenery hiding the dreary grey of the morning from view. His expression turned to confusion as a man in an olive green uniform appeared amongst the trees.

“Who in the hell is that?” John quipped bluntly.

Perplexed rather than worried, he remained where he was seated somehow not considering that he should consider getting on his feet in case of an attack.

Cal, Gavin and Jeremy followed his stare to the window. Gavin jumped to his feet with a startled look and glanced to the door as he contemplated running for the Secret Service.

“Relax,” Cal berated his subordinate. He turned a disinterested stare back to the table and the notes before him. “It's just pest control, we called them up last night.”

“Why?” Jeremy queried curiously as he continued to watch the man stomping inelegantly through the greenery.

“For a pest,” Cal answered sardonically.

Gavin gave a mocking snort at this in an attempt to appear dismissive of the matter and gloss over the fact that for a brief moment he had almost had an early bowel movement.

“What kind of pest?” Jeremy asked as he glanced over at Cal.

“Who cares?” Gavin interrupted. He glanced at his watch. “It's almost half eight here, we need to speed up, I have a meeting at nine and you are due to get on a plane at ten Mr Vice President,” he remarked as he glanced over at John.

John nodded. “Right, let's get on with it then.”

The group went over their notes again, summing up the itinerary for the day, additions to the news last night that might effect them, the policies that were up for discussion with the President today and a few queries that had come up in Congress. They had carefully avoided discussing the disaster of the foreign aid policy. The murky matter of oil was starting to get pushed by the Republicans as they were wary of rumours about an increase on taxes for fossil fuel producers which they believed were what would fund the financial incentives for people to switch to greener options all in the aid of a healthier planet.

As a man who had made his money in oil, John could certainly sympathise with people suddenly afraid of losing money in the business of fossil fuels. The President had already asked if he would go and put a pleasant spin on things when the issue was finally raised officially, it was just a matter of waiting for some senator to do so.

What John was wary of, was Senator Whyte raising hell over the oil business. Even though John might have sympathy to the plight the senator wouldn't care, he seemed to be out for blood at the moment. Apparently, he had suffered a serious financial loss over the guns matter.

With their morning meeting concluded, the men rose and exited the room. The room was like many others in the Eisenhower Executive Building- a polished, pristine piece of history that always seemed to be void of dust and debris though no one ever saw the cleaners. For all the use it got, the tasteful décor of portraits and naval themed ornaments seemed a waste.

Jeremy and Gavin separated from them in the corridor leaving John and Cal to head down it with the Secret Service. They moved towards the entrance of the building, ready to hasten to the airport to make a trip up to New York so John could make a promotional appearance with a local baseball organisation that was set up as a place for the troubled kids of the area to have a safe space to forget their troubles for a moment.

John filled with surprise and then a sudden moment of realisation as they turned a corner and met Suzanne in the corridor.

“Suzanne honey,” John exclaimed, “I'm sorry, our meeting ran on and I forgot all about breakfast.”

Suzanne gave John an icy stare even as she forced a smile to her face and resisted the urge to fold her arms in a universal stance of 'I'm pissed off'. She was standing in the company of Cal's assistant Tanya who was giving her an empathetic stare.

“Well you are the Vice President, it's to be expected,” Suzanne murmured. “However, I suppose it means you don't have time to look at this charity appeal by the ladies of The Silver Ivy Club.”

Suzanne reached to the pink Chanel handbag hanging from her shoulder, tugging up the flap and pulling out part of a thin, red leather backed file.

“No I'm afraid not,” John retorted. He tried to sound disappointed but it was difficult to keep the relief from his voice.

When Suzanne had requested last night that they met for a quick breakfast this morning John had been a tad suspicious of her motives and now it was clear, she wanted to pressure him into supporting another charity ventured undoubtedly because some influential friends of hers were a part of it.

“Maybe later,” John added with a suggestion of doubt as he saw her green gaze harden with a cold anger.

Suzanne released the file in defeat as she nodded. “Right, well I suppose it wouldn't be nice having breakfast while this place is getting fumigated or whatever it is,” she murmured. She made it sound jovial and even added a sweet giggle at the end of her words.

Tanya smiled along before shaking her head. “It's not that bad Mrs. Hoynes,” she said cheerfully. “Just one raccoon.”

John's eyes widened in surprise at this.

The silent Cal frowned over at his female aide before his stern stare darted over to John.

“What?” John queried as he stared at Tanya. His mouth was parted slightly as his blue gaze wavered between disbelief and anger.

Tanya was taken back by it, unsure why the Vice President cared about the nature of the pest. She pushed back a stray strand of inky black hair as her wary gaze darted over to Cal and then back to John. She couldn't fathom why either man seemed angry about the matter.

“A raccoon sir,” she retorted, “one of the secretaries spotted it last night just outside the offices.”

“Who called pest control?” John snapped.

“I'm not sure but it's protocol,” Tanya answered with another uneasy glance.

“John what does it matter who called?” Suzanne piped up. “Be glad they called them quickly, that's efficient.”

“No,” John snapped as he waved out his hands. “No, get them stopped.”

John turned and suddenly hastened back in the direction of the office he had come from.

“Sir, we have a plane to catch,” Cal called as he hurried after him.

“Sir I can call them to cancel,” Tanya offered as she watched him retreat.

“No, they need told now,” John said firmly.

“John what are you talking about?” Suzanne called as she followed after him. “It's a raccoon, they're pests and if you have no time for breakfast you certainly don't have time for this!”

John ignored his wife as he charged on back into the meeting room. Spying the pest control man still there through the windows, he hurried forward and stared banging on the window.

“Hey you!” John called angrily.

Cal sighed as he halted in the middle of the room. “Sir, it's bullet proof glass,” he reminded him, “he can't hear you.”

“John really, you aren't going to miss an appointment to yell at pest control, are you?” Suzanne demanded as she let some of her irritation slip into her voice. “You're the Vice President, you have people to sort this nonsense! Not that it needs sorted, he's doing his job. Is it any wonder people are calling you a novelty act?”

John glanced over his shoulder sharply to his wife. He scowled at her silently for a moment, letting her see the ire in his own stare.

“It's not a pest,” he said flatly.

“Sir it is and it's protocol to get it removed,” Cal interrupted.

John pointed at Cal crossly with one finger. “I know what that means and you do to. They're not killing it.”

John turned back to the window and stared banging it again. Finally, he caught the man's attention.

The man stared back wide eyed and open mouthed, quite unwilling to believe that the Vice President of the United States was banging a window at him.

“You look a fool John,” Suzanne hissed out angrily. “I won't let you forget it if you miss an appointment for a God damn raccoon when you couldn't miss it to have breakfast with me.”

Realising she had lost her cool in front of Cal, Suzanne was quick to turn and hurry from the room, determined not to make another embarrassing outburst.

“Sir what are you going to tell them in New York if you miss this plane?” Cal queried as he tried to force John into action.

“That there was an emergency, I'm the Vice President, they'll just have to accept that things do come up. Now get these pest control guys out of here,” John retorted sharply as he glared out at the pest control man.

“The raccoon has to go somewhere sir,” Cal said pointedly. “It is a pest,” he insisted, “and if you let it stay it will only cause problems.”

“Get it to a park or something then,” John grumbled irately. “You know what, you just get these pest control people away. I'll get Gavin for the other thing, he owes a favour.”

John mimed an X motion to the stunned pest control man repeatedly, unaware of how it looked mildly threatening as he scowled with the gesture.

\---

As Josh and Cadence headed down the corridor to meet with the lake people they met a slightly flustered Donna.

“Good, you're here,” she said as she looked at Josh pointedly. She gave Cadence a slightly quizzical stare before looking back to Josh again.

“You did remember, right?” Donna queried.

Josh stared back at Donna in confusion. “No but I'm hoping it's something that will get me out of meeting with the lake people.”

“Lake people?” Donna queried. “What is that...like people who live by the lake?”

“I'm hoping,” Josh muttered. He shook his head. “No Donna, it won't be that simple,” he said with a wave of his hand, “It's Big Block of Cheese Day.”

“Big Block of Fake Metaphorical Cheese Day,” Cadence grumbled as she folded her arms.

“So what pressing engagement do I have that gets me out of this?” Josh queried hopefully.

“Congressman Landis,” Donna retorted. “He's here about the arts and history bill, apparently if Richmond gets its share he's on board.”

Josh sighed. “Hmm, money for preserving a piece of Confederate history or lake people, choices, choices.”

Cadence gave him a sideways glance. “History is important to preserve regardless of the nature, it's how we apply our knowledge that counts,” she remarked.

Josh jerked his thumb in Cadence's direction. “We learned this morning that in addition to thinking the Senate is a Roman dictatorship, Cadence here also believes Mexico still has a right to California.”

“I'd be mad at your exaggeration but you did call me Cadence instead of the devil so I'm counting that as improvement,” Cadence replied with a small smile.

Donna smiled awkwardly as she nodded her head at both of them. “Uh huh, well what about Congressman Landis?” She gestured her hands back to the way she had come from. “He's waiting.”

“Josh Lyman you are not leaving me to meet these lake people alone,” Cadence said sternly.

Josh stretched a hand up to his brow and frowned. “You know a bill about financial aid to the preservation of arts is quite important,” he remarked.

“So is not having my father, your boss, think that you purposely sabotaged our team building,” Cadence answered chirpily. “Look, we'll go and greet them, then you can take a break to meet Congressman Landis.”

Josh grimaced into his palm before lowering his hand. “Fine.” He looked at Donna pleadingly. “Donna, please, stall him for a few minutes.”

Donna gave him an exasperated stare. “Josh you have to learn not to double book!”

The blonde turned and retreated up the corridor.

Josh gave Cadence an irritated stare. “Are you happy now?”

Cadence shrugged. “Not really, I'm still annoyed about the cheese.”

Josh shook his head before continuing up the corridor to the room they had been advised the lake people where waiting in. It was a small office in the West Wing with nothing that stood out about it save for its occupants.

Josh knocked the door before gesturing Cadence in first as he opened it.

Josh and Cadence stepped into the room and halted as a glowing image courtesy of an overhead projection on the front wall caught their attention. This room was gloomier than the Roosevelt Room as the lights were off and the windows were cast in the shadow of the clouds. The rainfall was louder now as it beat distractingly off the glass panes.

Josh wondered as he lingered at the front of the room staring at the projection if the place was cold or just seemed that way because of the gloom and the rain. He found the heavy patter a tad distracting and continued to hope he wouldn't be out in it today.

“Is that...Nessie?” Cadence queried dubiously.

“No, Chessie,” a young woman corrected hotly.

The woman stood up from the desk she and a man had been occupying to give Cadence an indignant look. She was wearing a navy and green argyle jumper over a white collared shirt with a long navy skirt and brown, leather boots and had long, dyed copper-brown hair up in a high ponytail showing off a lightly freckled, fair face.

“Chessie,” Cadence repeated as she glanced from the woman to her other companion- a young, affably looking young man who was dressed as if ready to attend a prominent private school in a navy blazer and trousers with a gold and green emblem on his blazer's left breast.

The man nodded enthusiastically as he grinned.

“It's one of the lake creatures we are hoping to seek a protected species status for,” the woman explained.

The woman stepped up to Josh and held out a hand. “I'm Gillian by the way, Gillian Elder but everyone calls me Jill.” She gave a wide smile.

Josh accepted the hand reluctantly and gave a quick shake before breaking away from it. “Josh Lyman and this is Cadence McGarry,” he introduced.

The woman gave Cadence a hostile glance. “I know,” she said bluntly.

“Is this not a Nessie knock off?” Cadence quipped as she ignored the comment and gestured to the image.

It was a collection of blurred photographs of dark humps in the water as well as some scanned illustrations depicting a serpent like water monster.

“No,” the woman snapped. “It's the Chesapeake Bay monster.”

“I thought we were dealing with lakes,” Josh murmured dubiously.

Josh was looking at the pictures with the same stunned expression as Cadence.

“Lakes, bays, rivers, basically all localised water properties that play host to endangered creatures,” the man explained eagerly. He stepped up to them and gave Josh and Cadence a warm smile. “I'm Gareth Jackson but people call me Jack,” he informed them.

Cadence and Josh exchanged a quick glance before Josh shook his head. “So, how can we help you?” he queried.

Jack hastened over to the overhead projector and clicked it on to another slide. There was another collection of questionable photographs with font underneath them. There was Champ, Bessie, Tahoe Tessie, Chessie and Flathead Lake Monster amongst others.

Cadence leaned to the left slightly to put her closer to Josh. “Is this a prank?” she queried quietly.

“I wish,” Josh retorted in a hushed voice.

“These are just examples of some of the endangered creatures out there in American waters,” Jill informed them as she took up a stance to the right of the images.

“Endangered?” Cadence repeated. “Don't you mean fictional?”

“No I don't,” Jill retorted angrily. She gestured to the images with a wave. “As you can see there is more than enough evidence to prove their existence.”

Cadence pointed up towards one in the centre. “That is a seal,” she retorted.

“Anyone can tell it's too high a hump to be a seal,” Jill snapped back.

“So how are you hoping we will help you with this?” Josh interrupted with a smile.

“We've come to seek funding for both their protection and the preservation of their home,” Jack explained. “We want to ensure they cannot be captured, imprisoned or exploited.”

“Well there's no danger of that anyway surely,” Cadence commented sardonically.

“Actually,” Jill replied heatedly, “there are quite a lot of hunters hoping to find and capture these endangered animals for profit.” She took a care to emphasise the word 'endangered'.

Josh glanced at his watch. “Well look, I have to take a break for a few minutes, I have another appointment-”

Josh halted as Cadence suddenly gripped his right arm tightly with her hand. “We,” she corrected with a fixed smile, “we have another appointment.”

“No-” Josh winced as Cadence's nails dug into his sleeve to pierce his skin. “Yes,” he corrected with a nod and a forced smile. “Yes, we, just for a few minutes. It will give you two time to work on this presentation for us.”

Josh glanced from Jill to Jack before turning to escape the room. Cadence turned with him and clung to his arm as he headed from the room.

“Would you get off me!” Josh snapped as he started to walk up the corridor.

He was too irritated with her to even ponder her willingness to grab him of all people. He was considering her behaviour a tad strange this morning. Cheese obsession not withstanding, her enthusiasm at the meeting had seemed a little forced and now she was choosing to spend time with Josh rather than embracing a chance to be free of him.

Josh figured he was just overthinking it, knowing Sam or Donna would be quick to suggest he just wanted to think ill of Cadence because she was Cadence McGarry. He could admit to himself that, that was probably true but, in his defence, it wasn't like Cadence had done all that much to sway his opinion.

Cadence released him with a glower. “You were going to leave me there with Jack and Jill to fall down a well after knock off Nessie,” she accused. “You know, for all the mocking you do of the Eisenhower, we wouldn't entertain this kind of nonsense.”

Josh shrugged. “Welcome to Big Block of Cheese Day,” he said with another smile.

Josh headed up the corridor briskly, glancing at his watch again as he wondered how long Congressman Landis had been waiting.

\---

Gavin arrived in the Vice President's office with a pant, looking unusually flustered for him. He doubled over slightly as John gave him a nonplussed look over his desk.

Gavin pressed a hand against his torso before standing upright again. “Sorry sir,” he apologised, “I ran here, Cal said you had a flight to make.”

“Yes, it took off five minutes ago,” John answered calmly.

John fixed a cool stare up at his aide. Until he had learned that Gavin was the one who had leaked the story of Robert 'Robbie' Donovan's murder and Cadence's suicide attempt to the press, John had considered Gavin one of his most loyal team members. The fact that Gavin had done it out of loyalty to John didn't make up for it in John's books. It was Cadence who insisted that John keep Gavin, she had reminded him that Gavin had stayed on his campaign even when it was losing and even after she and Josh had both left it. She had also commented that she was certain Gavin had leaked the story to get her to leave because he didn't trust her intentions, feeling she was on John's team out of her father's mechanisms and not loyalty. After all, Cadence had previously left when things had gotten tough but Gavin had stayed.

John knew Cadence had a valid point and he had wanted to discuss it with Gavin but she had pleaded with him not to. So Gavin got to stay on but it was clear to him and John that he was under a form of probation.

Gavin glanced at his watch. “I thought you got it rescheduled sir, that's what Cal said,” he murmured.

John glanced at his own watch. “I told Cal to cancel it,” he said with a bitter smile.

“Well, that's good I guess,” Gavin retorted, “ because the Washington Zoo are happy to take the raccoon but they are insisting they honour this donation with a ceremony as they presume you will be making it personally.”

“Donation?!” John snapped with wide eyes. He stood up from his seat suddenly. “Gavin what in the hell have you done? I just wanted it re-homed.”

Gavin nodded. “Yes sir but when I rang the zoo they asked why they would want to take in a common pest, they said there are plenty of them for the public to view loitering in the trash cans outside. I explained it would be on behalf of the Vice President and then,” he paused with a sheepish look and scratched at his short, dark hair briefly, “well then they got the idea that you wanted to donate a raccoon to them. You kind of do, don't you?”

John frowned over at him. “No Gavin,” he addressed him calmly, “I just didn't realise how hard it was to shift a racoon from one place to another. I assume raccoons live in parks too, you could have just sent it to a park.” He sighed and bowed his head to his desk before glancing up at Gavin. “Alright, when is this?”

“Well you wanted it removed today, right?”

“No, I wanted pest control gone today. Gavin, what have you agreed to?”

Gavin gave a weak smile. “A quick ceremony at two o'clock this afternoon, it gives them time to set up its new home.”

“What does this ceremony entail?”

“You and the raccoon in a picture at the zoo with one of their zookeepers and managers,” Gavin answered. “I'll have to talk to Cady but I'm sure we could make good publicity out of this.”

“I am a novelty act,” John grumbled quietly.

“Sir?” Gavin didn't hear what his boss muttered.

John waved him off with one hand. “Just get it arranged and make sure someone has the damn raccoon ready to go.”

“Pest control didn't secure it?” Gavin queried with a surprised stare.

John looked back at him in irritation. “No they wanted to kill it, that was the point!” John snapped at him. “Damn it Gavin don't make me look the fool by going to the zoo without the thing!” He pointed at him accusingly. “And make sure it is the raccoon, I don't want a substitution and I don't want to learn that this one is either still rogue or exterminated, understand?”

Gavin nodded. “Right.”

Gavin headed out the room quickly. He marched back to his own office with a few muttered curses. He paused at the secretaries' sector and looked at them accusingly, aware that they were the ones who had started this mess in the first place.

“Someone get me a cat carrier and cat food,” he ordered before heading into his office.

\---

Josh wondered as he entered the room to greet Congressman Landis if anyone else was having as bad a morning as him. Lake people, bills with confederate controversy attached to them and Cadence McGarry, it was difficult for him to decide what was the biggest problem so far.

The congressman was seated at a desk crowded with notes, a laptop and files. He had his jacket off and slung over the chair behind him and was seated, writing on a file block until he saw Josh arrive. He placed down his pen and stood up with an easygoing smile.

Josh was a little surprised to see how busy the congressman had evidently been and it made him feel a little guilty for not considering this business with any real thought.

“Morning Congressman Landis,” Josh greeted politely. He glanced over to Cadence as he wondered if introductions were really necessary for someone who had been plastered all over the news for several days. “This is Cadence McGarry, she's here on work experience,” he joked.

Josh gave a short laugh at his own joke and waved it off. “No, I'm kidding, I don't actually know why she's here.”

Congressman Landis turned his easygoing smile onto the young woman and he raised his dark eyebrows slightly as a spark of amusement brightened his pale blue eyes. “Well good morning anyway, I'm Tom Landis,” he introduced.

Cadence smiled back. “I do know why I'm here, I'm tactfully avoiding people talking about knock off Nessie.”

Josh scowled and gave Cadence a scolding stare. “We don't have to share that with people,” he murmured.

Cadence pushed back some of her hair from her face as she gave him an innocent look in response. “Why not? I don't feel like it's real if I don't tell people.”

“Knock off Nessie?” Tom repeated with a curious look.

Cadence's smile brightened at this. “Chessie apparently, and then there's Bessie and Tessie.”

“Oh.” Tom gave her a wide grin. “So you've heard about our little sea serpent.”

“Our?” Cadence gaped at Tom with surprise before turning her horrified stare on Josh. “Is this a prank?” she demanded again. She raised her hands to her hips. “I mean am I being hazed because I dared to intrude here on the hallowed West Wing ground or is this a seriously late punishment by my father?”

She gestured to Tom with one hand while continuing to stare at Josh. “Very good getting him and Donna and Jack and Jill on it, I mean really, you guys are talented.”

Josh, who had raised a hand to his brow and was now shaking his head into his palm retorted, “no Cadence. The congressman is quite real and probably not impressed with us right now.”

Josh lowered his hand and looked to Tom apologetically. “Sir I'm so sorry about this, keeping you late and...well this.” Josh looked at Cadence pointedly.

Tom was still smiling at them with amusement. “It's fine Josh, I'm intrigued not offended.” Tom gestured to his chest with one hand. “I'm from Chesapeake Bay,” he explained to Cadence. “Chessie is a popular legend there. I can't say much for Bessie or Tessie however.”

“Oh.” Cadence's eyes widened as she realised her faux pas. “I apologise Congressman,” she said sincerely. “We're having a meeting with people about lakes and other water bodies and their...en...endang...I can't say it, sorry, their dubious residents.”

“Dubious,” Josh said flatly. “Really?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

“I can't Josh,” she answered as she waved her arms outwards. “I draw the line at sea serpents and still living dinosaurs.”

There was a knock on the door and Donna poked her head in with an apologetic stare. “I'm sorry,” she remarked before she stepped into the room. “One of the lake people was roaming the corridor looking for you guys,” she explained. “I sent them back into the meeting room.”

“I told them it'd be a few minutes,” Josh grumbled.

Donna nodded sympathetically.

“I should go,” Cadence said reluctantly. “I've intruded here anyway.”

“No,” Josh retorted with a wave of his hand, “you offended Jill and maybe Jack too.”

“I've offended Congressman Landis too,” Cadence pointed out with another apologetic look at Tom.

“No you haven't,” Tom assured, “and please, call me Tom.”

Cadence gave him another smile. “Well Tom I have intruded, this is your meeting with Josh.”

Tom smiled warmly in response. “I think as far as a lot of people here are concerned, I'm the intruder,” he said cheerfully.

Cadence's expression turned puzzled at this.

“I'm sorry, are the lake people called Jack and Jill?” Donna quipped with a look of disbelief.

“Yes, let's move on from that swiftly,” Josh said. “Donna, get them coffee and ask them to show you the slideshow of endangered aquatic animals.”

“Oh like manatees?” Donna queried with an excited look.

“Probably,” Cadence retorted mockingly, “maybe some bloated otters too.”

“What?” Donna cocked her head with a curious stare and a slight frown.

“Donna just go,” Josh dismissed as he waved her off,“and don't forget the coffee.”

Donna's frown deepened and she turned smartly on one heel and marched from the office. As she closed the door she used more force than usual and it caused a loud bang to echo in the room.

A sharp shriek followed stunning Josh for a moment.

Josh looked about the room in confusion as his mind tried to catch up to the noise and explain what it was.

Tom had moved from around the desks and was now looking down at it from the front.

Puzzled, Josh followed his stare and when Tom crouched, Josh crouched too. He saw Cadence under a desk, having darted there as quick as lightning, now hugging her knees and wearing a sunken eyed look of terror.

Josh was silent in his confusion.

“What happened?” Tom queried quietly, keeping his voice low as if afraid of startling her further. “Are you alright?”

Josh glanced at the door and back to Cadence. The door had made a long bang when it had closed and she had dove for cover. It hadn't exactly been that surprising a noise.

“I think she just got startled by the noise,” Josh said weakly. He could hardly explain to the congressman that he suspected Cadence had imagined a gunshot.

Josh wondered briefly once again what the hell had happened in Colombia, both times Cadence had been there. He knew there was a lot Leo and the President weren't saying about her trip there with the Vice President and things were still murky regarding her charitable trip there.

“Cadence maybe you should...” Josh trailed off. “Take a break.”

Cadence shuffled out from under the table and stood up, waving away Josh's offer to help her stand. She rose with a slight wince, her hand reaching up to a hidden scar on her right side before she let it slacken. Embarrassed, she avoiding looking at either man as she smoothed down her grey jacket and skirt.

“Yeah, maybe I'll go get coffee,” she muttered, “and a cream cheese bagel,” she added as she offered Josh a faint smile.

“I haven't had breakfast either,” Tom remarked, “why don't we get coffee together and I can tell you more about Chesapeake Bay, I wouldn't want you thinking it's nothing more than a sea serpent's home.”

Cadence glanced over at the man trying to gage if he was teasing her not. She saw only sincerity in his pale stare and felt a small smile slip out in response to his merry grin.

“Sure,” she agreed. “Josh?”

“No, I need to take care of Jack and Jill,” Josh muttered dismissively, still a little puzzled over Cadence's extreme reaction to a door closing. His thoughts seemed a few seconds behind and it was only when Tom headed for the door that he realised his error. “Wait!” he cried out suddenly.

Cadence and Tom glanced over at Josh in mild surprise.

“It's raining outside!” he blurted out.

“There's a cafe inside,” Cadence reminded him.

“Right, with people we know.”

“Yes,” Cadence said. She gave Josh a confused look and raised her hands to her hips. “What's the problem?”

Tom shook his head as a slight hint of bitterness filled his smile. “Josh, I won't corrupt her with coffee.”

“Well she might corrupt you!” Josh retorted childishly.

“Corrupt me to what?” Cadence queried. She looked from Josh to Tom. “To some sort of sea monster cult? Seriously, am I being filmed? Is this a prank?”

“You keep asking that, I'm telling Leo it's how you talk about Big Block of Cheese Day,” Josh grumbled.

“I'm a Republican,” Tom explained calmly as he looked to Cadence hopefully.

Cadence stared back at him quietly before her grey-blue stare darted to Josh and a wide smile appeared across her face followed by a giggle. “Oh this is too good,” she commented as she crossed her arms. “Josh's two arch enemies come together.”

“Arch enemies?” Tom repeated. “Aren't you a democrat?”

Josh let a snort of derision at this. “She's a seriously twisted one,” he grumbled.

“I am,” Cadence replied, “but to Josh I'm the devil.”

“Huh.” Tom smiled over at Josh. “I thought I was a devil to you lot, even though I'm here to try and make a deal for the greater good of the people.”

“Tom, normally you're one of the nicer ones,” Josh admitted, “and I wasn't trying to make any point about your political side. It's just, we're already running behind and we have another group of people to get back to, we should really make a start on this.”

“Sure Josh,” Cadence dismissed him with a grin. “Look,” she turned her crossed arms into a self-embrace as she glanced about the room, “I really think I should go. I wasn't a part of this and I'm holding you back and this room smells of damp.”

“No it doesn't,” Josh retorted.

“It does to me,” she murmured.

“I've been working in here for a while, I'm taking a break,” Tom insisted. He gave Cadence another hopeful look. “You aren't going to turn me down because I'm a Republican, are you? What does that say for our parties' future relations?”

Cadence smiled again, amused by his persistence.

“Tom,” she said quietly, “maybe you should reconsider the offer, surely you've seen what the papers have said about me. I'm not the democrat who's going to get you points.”

Tom nodded. “No, which makes you the fun democrat.”

Cadence's gaze brightened at this.

Josh saw the joy that filled Cadence's gaze and was surprised to realise it was sincere unlike the false show of happiness she had expressed at the State Dinner. It was odd but he didn't want to diminish the spark so he made no further argument and was quiet as they slipped out of the room at last.

As they exited, Josh wondered if he should tell Leo about Cadence's odd behaviour this morning. He didn't want to worry his boss unnecessarily but he wondered if Cadence was being open about her obvious need for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big Block of Cheese Day is the best.
> 
> Congressman Tom Landis appeared in Season 4's episode Angel Maintenance, I don't know why but I always tend to like a lot of these brief characters, maybe it's a testimony to their actors, in this case it's Matt McCoy. I also tend to like the background characters in franchises who either get killed off or arrested or disappeared and never get that much development, oh well.
> 
> I don't know when this fic will end, I'm having way too much fun with it but yes I have a plot and ending in mind.


	29. A Cheesy Success

Cadence felt like an intruder as she stood in Josh's office taking a call from Gavin. She had initially been relieved when Donna had caught her in the corridor to say she had a call waiting before she could return to the lake people alone but now she was wondering how the day kept getting stranger as she tried to figure out what Gavin was trying to tell her.

Cadence glanced about the office hoping to find something embarrassing but it was all rather mundane and cluttered yet the mess was oddly organised so even that she could not critique. She wondered sardonically if Josh would sterilise the phone after her usage of it. Would he even know Donna had offered up his office with a smile as a private place for Cadence to respond to the call?

“Cady we need your P.R skills for the Vice President this afternoon,” Gavin explained. “He has to make an appearance at the Smithsonian Zoo for a ceremony of sorts.” His voice held a hint of haggardness to it as he addressed her quickly.

Cadence looked about the room again with suspicion as she cradled the phone close. She glanced at the window, the blinds were shut but she could still hear the rain hammering off the pane. It was loud and a little too distracting for her liking.

“Cady?” Gavin called impatiently.

“Sorry, I misheard you say something about a ceremony at the zoo,” Cadence retorted lightly, “and then I remembered the V.P is meant to be in New York and now I'm wondering if this office has a hidden camera in it because I would swear someone is pranking me today.”

“What?”

Cadence sighed as she reached up to her hair. She frowned as she felt more of it loose than she had expected to and began to wonder exactly what she had looked like when taking coffee with Congressman Landis. Had that been some kind of prank too? The paranoid side of her wondered if the Republican was just looking some kind of funny story to take back to his party about the Democratic Chief of Staff's daughter.

“Nothing,” Cadence grumbled, “just tell me what's going on and please tell me the Vice President is in New York because cancelling that event is bad publicity.”

“Well he did cancel it,” Gavin said flatly, “because a racoon was running about outside the Eisenhower and pest control were going to kill it, I think. Now it's getting donated to a zoo because I didn't consider ringing a park first or whoever the hell you ring about raccoons that aren't pest control. At two o'clock the Vice President is to present the racoon to the Smithsonian Zoo with a small ceremony.”

Cadence twisted the phone cord about her finger as she tried to take in this latest surprise.

“You need to come do the P.R for this,” Gavin concluded.

“He cancelled New York to save a raccoon?” Cadence queried quietly.

“Well he wasn't all that keen on New York,” Gavin grumbled, “and this raccoon is not that a big a fan of captivity so I don't know how well it's going to take to the zoo.”

“Wait, you have it?” Cadence quipped in surprise.

“Have it, they made me catch it!” Gavin lamented. “Because pest control couldn't even do that, I mean I get it, I'm being punished. You know, I was sincere about my apology to you,” he added hotly, “but you and I both know why I did what I did.”

Cadence turned sombre at Gavin's words, she did know why he had leaked her story of suicide and Robbie to the press, to oust her before she could do any more damage to John with scandals. In a way she was sorry Gavin hadn't been more successful with his plan.

“You didn't let it bite you, did you?” she queried coolly.

“I'm not that stupid,” he retorted irately. “I just left the cage door open with cat food in it and when it went in I closed the door. You have to come make something out of this mess.”

Cadence looked to the clock on the wall, it was only coming up to half ten and New York was approximately an hour and a half flight from D.C.

“Get Air Force Two rescheduled for New York asap,” she ordered. “I'll get in touch with NY Angel Kids' League, they will understand having to work around the Vice President but not him cancelling. Why didn't Cal reschedule?”

“Vice President Hoynes did not desire to,” Gavin retorted in a low voice. “It's been one hell of a morning and this raccoon keeps yapping at me. Stop that! That noise is disturbing.”

Cadence's smile widened as she heard the noise of a slightly upset raccoon in the background.

“Gavin it's just chittering. Make sure it's got plenty of water and food while it's waiting and space. Is it a boy or girl? Young?”

“I have no idea and I have no desire to find out. It's not getting out until it's at the zoo,” Gavin retorted flatly.

“Yes, I'll ring them too, who suggested two o'clock?”

“They did,” Gavin admitted, “and I agreed.”

“Well they have to understand the Vice President will be making the schedule not them,” Cadence said firmly. “Since you're so eager to make amends I'm going to leave it with you to arrange with Cal and the V.P to get to New York and then back to Washington for say five. I'll get the zoo locked in for six.”

“Right. You know I remember you getting all righteous about a raccoon back on the campaign trail,” Gavin commented scornfully. “This sudden sense of animal rights is your influence, isn't it?”

“One can only hope,” Cadence retorted happily. “I'll let you go Gavin, calls to make and all that.”

“Bye.”

Cadence hung up the phone and took a deep breath. She wondered about Gavin's story, was the raccoon just an excuse to get out of New York? She doubted it, John had been indifferent to New York, he hadn't loathed the idea of the trip. She hugged her torso tentatively as she considered the only explanation that made sense to her. John couldn't cope with Cadence potentially learning that pest control had been called to her place of work and killed a raccoon. He had wanted it spared for her.

Realising she was going to have to balance phone calls with the lake people as she couldn't let her father down today, Cadence finally stepped out of Josh's office. She would speak to John later about the raccoon but for now she had to distance herself from the confusing emotions that came with her curiosity. Her father was trusting in her good faith to do good work with Josh and to show his team that she wasn't a screw up. Sure Leo hadn't told her that was what he wanted to achieve today but she knew he was thinking it. It wasn't exactly normal for someone from the VP's team to try and help with the work of the President's team even in the name of team building.

Donna, standing bent over her own desk, stood upright to give the young woman a cheerful smile.

Cadence smiled back. She liked Donna, the blonde always seemed to welcome her with a sincere happiness, there was no agenda there or suggestion of a pretence of friendliness.

“Donna, could I accommodate somewhere to make a few more phone calls later today?” Cadence asked politely.

Donna nodded. “Sure, Josh's office is too fussy isn't it? Sure he knows where everything is but I keep telling him it doesn't give good impressions. I can find you another office space if you give me a few minutes.”

“Thanks. I'll be with the lake people in the meantime.”

Cadence headed through the West Wing to the toilets first.

She was dismayed when she caught sight of her reflection. Her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was askew having long drifted from cute, messy ponytail to bird's nest. She placed her bag onto the worktop beside a sink, opened it up and tugged out a brush.

The door opened and shut as Bonnie entered to use a cubicle. As the door closed, Cadence suddenly tensed, turning sharply to move back as she looked to the door accusingly.

Bonnie missed the stare as she had already hurried into a cubicle.

Cadence sucked in a breath and took in her rigid stance. Her hands were up at her sides, arms bent but even she didn't know if she had been preparing to shield herself for something or halfway to covering her ears from an unwanted sound. She turned back to her reflection and frowned as she felt her hands quivering slightly. She made herself take another deep breath before she tugged out the remnants of the ponytail and started brushing.

Cadence frowned at her reflection before glancing sideways to the right to a raised window. It was shut but she could still hear the rain, it seemed to be heavy no matter what room she was in.

–

Josh returned to Tom in his usual brisk, animated manner with an apologetic smile. He was returning after having left the congressman for the second time just five minutes after Tom had returned from his morning break. Donna had intruded upon them again after the tea break to advise that Cadence had received a call from the Vice President's party and now she was trying to deal with something for them.

In a reaction this, Josh was trying to balance the lake people unsuccessfully with Cadence. He knew that he and Cadence had to reunite at some point and form some sort of decision as to whether they were going to give any finances to Jack and Jill's cause. He was a little infuriated with Cadence for finding a way to escape dealing with Jack and Jill full time and, since she wouldn't tell Josh what exactly she was dealing with, he was starting to think it was all a ruse. In fact Josh was starting to suspect Cadence had gotten one of the Vice President's aides to ring her on purpose, the whole 'get me out of this bad date' phone call.

As Josh turned his attention to Tom he wondered how coffee had gone. Josh had worked out Cadence and Tom had spent approximately fifteen minutes together and couldn't decide if that was good or bad. Yet Tom couldn't be the 'bad date' Cadence was escaping from or she would have thrown herself into dealing with Jack and Jill surely.

“I'm sorry congressman,” Josh apologised again. “I didn't mean to get called away so quickly but you know how it is.”

Josh was sincere with his apology but there was a hint of indifference in his dark gaze. Tom was a Republican coming to court money for his district, he wasn't exactly a priority for the Democrat President or any of his staffers.

Tom smiled up at Josh. He had resumed his seat by his notes and was attentively working through them and an open file of documents.

“Sure you're not trying to avoid bargaining with a Republican?” Tom teased.

Josh laughed faintly at this and shook his head. “No, not at all congressman.”

Josh pulled out the seat opposite Tom.

“Is Cady coming back or is she staying with the lakes people?” Tom queried.

Josh hesitated in sitting to look over at Tom with surprise. He raised his pale brown eyebrows slightly and made himself smile to hide the budding horror within him.

“Well, congressman, she really wasn't meant to be here in the first place,” Josh retorted calmly. He used Tom's title purposely to remind him that this was a business meeting and not a casual get together. “She's part of the Vice President's detail but she's here today to help give people who otherwise have difficulty reaching us a chance.”

Josh paused as he rhymed off Leo's polite way of phrasing 'wasting time with crazies'. He gave Tom a serious stare as he realised suddenly how it might sound to him.

Josh had met Tom a few times and considered him likeable despite his political stance but he didn't know him well and couldn't say for certain if Tom was trustworthy or liable to run back to the Republican party with mocking tales of how the Democratic Chief of Staff arranged cheese days and had his Deputy chasing money for mythical water creatures. Josh didn't think Tom would but with politicians one often couldn't see the knife until it was too late. Hell, who was Josh to ponder over it, hadn't he wielded the political knife before on behalf of Leo and the President? It was the game, the House was meant to be for the people but instead of coming together for the people the residents looked to each other with ire and moved in a rush of violent words to unseat the unstable, hoping to gain another throne in Congress for their party.

“Like liberal Republicans going against the grain?” Tom ventured. His blue stare remained warm and friendly.

Josh sat down at last and crossed his arms on the table. “No congressman, our meeting today at the same time as The Foundation of Lakes and Lake Wildlife meeting was a double booking, I didn't know I was having a meeting with them today.”

Josh knew how ridiculous that sounded, true as it was, the idea that the Deputy Chief of Staff would have a meeting he was unaware of didn't come across as organised. Josh wondered if this was another argument to be used to Leo for ending Big Block of Cheese Day. Considering Toby's argument that wars needed dealt with hadn't worked, Josh doubted a Republican being hurt by a meetings clash was going to cause Leo to rethink his favourite tradition.

Tom's stare became serious as he held Josh's gaze. “Josh if we get something good done for the people here today then I don't really care how I got this meeting. And enough with the congressman, call me Tom, we are colleagues.”

Tom's blue stare brightened again as he queried chirpily, “I do have to ask, what's the connection to lake people and cheese?”

“She told you about the cheese,” Josh murmured as he bowed his head. “Why?”

Tom smiled. “Cady was a little annoyed there were no cream cheese bagels, she said this was supposed to be a cheese day but it's a false cheese day.”

Josh glanced up at Tom to see his quizzical expression. “Why?” he lamented again as he groaned and raised his right hand to pull it down his cheek.

“No, see,” Josh hesitated, “it's...it's a thing we do here.” Josh waved his hands outwards dramatically. “It-We're tight for time,” he changed the subject quickly. “I'll explain another day. Let's get talking about this history and arts bill.” Josh glanced at his watch. “I'll have to dart out again to talk to Jack and Jill.”

“What's the story there? Cady said they want funding for sea dragons and she's not doing it unless they offer her a unicorn.”

Tom's smile widened and his blue gaze filled with amusement.

Josh frowned hearing Tom call Cadence by her nickname yet again. For some reason he found it more concerning than her telling a Republican that they were having a meeting regarding giving people money to protect mythical animals.

“She's not good with details,” Josh grumbled. “They want some kind of funding to protect these water creatures from poaching and captivity.” Josh paused and waved a finger in a circle motion as if miming tape being rewound. “And I just heard that. I didn't make it sound any saner, did I?”

Tom gave a brief chuckle and shook his head. “I think I get the just of it. Why don't you consider taking funding from the environmental budget for the protection of the environment of these water bodies and all their inhabitants, then these creatures would be protected under the blanket order of it without it seeming like the White House is funding the protection of sea dragons. And maybe,” he added light heartedly, “some Republicans would even support that.”

Josh studied Tom's calm expression carefully. It was a good suggestion, Josh could admit it to himself but he wouldn't say it out loud.

“I'll think on that one,” Josh conceded. “Now, what about this history and arts bill? You want to include Richmond in the funding, which would specifically be Richmond's history as the capital of the Confederacy.”

“Josh you can't silence history and I'm not looking to show it off in a good way, I just believe people should see all sides of history. You can visit Auschwitz,” Tom pointed out.

Josh winced slightly at the comparison and gave a nervous smile. “Yes but Auschwitz is presented as the horror it was and is. I'm not sure Confederate history is so clearly presented.”

“Richmond is trying to promote the history of slavery and emancipation more,” Tom said, “and with this bill it can. Josh, Richmond isn't just the former Confederate capital, it's where Patrick Henry persuaded people to rise up against the British, and the Virginia Holocaust Museum opened there a couple of years ago.”

“See I know how you want it to sound,” Josh addressed him calmly as he tried to sound understanding, “but Tom, consider this viewpoint, we wouldn't be funding a Holocaust Museum without also sparing funding to promote the history of the Confederacy in a city that supported it.”

Tom frowned. “I don't think Richmond is ready to rise up for the South again,” he said sardonically. “It's all history Josh and it's all learning, I'm not suggesting we use it to manipulate opinion, only that we promote the education of people. We don't have to like all aspects of history but we shouldn't promote one over the other.”

Josh turned his gaze to the door. The topic made him uncomfortable, more so since Tom seemed keen to bring Jewish history into it, which Josh considered an unfair ploy.

Josh turned back to Tom. “The bill is to be split over various territories Tom, and look we want to avoid anything controversial with it, we're leaning more towards Picassos and museums on farming, I can't guarantee funding to Richmond, is that the only way you're supporting it?”

Tom gave a firm nod. “Why Josh, are you going to say it only gets through without Richmond?” he queried.

This time Tom's smile was a little bitter and a ruthless crept into his blue stare promising Josh a fight.

“Not everyone in the Republican party is a fan of this bill,” Tom reminded him. “Most are against in fact, that brush with Colombia makes them want to consider finances for military not the arts.”

Josh nodded. “Well Colombia wasn't exactly our finest hour,” he murmured. “Tom let's go through it, bit by bit. There are other areas in Virginia to benefit from this.”

“I'm for the fourth congressional district, not the entire state,” Tom reminded him. “The President wants to sign this bill and you need a Republican supporting it for Congress.”

Josh gave Tom a small smile, he couldn't tell if Tom was getting pissy or being humorous again with his reminder of their need for a Republican. He figured Tom's interpretation of his own smile might give him a clue.

Tom smiled back with a warmth to his face as a spark of merriment returned to his gaze.

“You know it's very Republican to remind us we need you when we're disagreeing over something you want,” Josh said in a teasing manner with a friendly glint to his eyes to show he wasn't trying to offend the man.

Tom laughed. “I am a Republican,” he reminded him.

“You should wear a badge, you keep saying that.”

“And you keep acting I should be ashamed of it and hush it up,” Tom retorted.

Josh leaned back in his chair and gestured outwards with his arms. “Well I'm not sure if you've noticed but you're in the minority in here,” he remarked sardonically.

“But not in the House,” Tom retaliated as his smile widened.

“Touché,” Josh consented.

Josh didn't know why was attempting some friendly bickering with Tom. For some reason Tom was able to amuse him, most other Republicans and he would have grown weary now. They often had a stick up their ass because whilst they held majority in the House they hadn't got what they really wanted- the Presidency. Tom was charming and humorous, and more agreeable and patient than most Republicans tended to be. Not that Tom was immune to showing a flicker of disagreement, he certainly wasn't happy with Josh's attempts to dismiss Richmond but he was willing to work to a compromise when most would have huffed and puffed.

Yet for all of Tom's amicable nature, Josh still determined to exchange light hearted barbs with him and hold what he really wanted out of reach. Josh wondered if it was because the man was Republican or because he was making the history and arts bill difficult for Josh or because he had taken Cadence McGarry of all people for coffee this morning. Josh realised he didn't even know if that was what Tom had done, he hadn't even asked.

“Did you get good coffee this morning?” Josh blurted out. “I hear it's hit and miss, depends on who's serving and the time of day.” Josh thumbed his nose awkwardly. “Toby talks about a server with a blonde bob,” he commented as he placed his palms flat on the table, “says she puts too much cream on.”

Tom stared back at Josh with amusement. “Josh, I didn't go for the coffee,” he answered plainly.

Josh couldn't hide the unease from his face. He tapped the table with his right hand and stared at his watch again.

“Right, you went for the bagels,” Josh murmured, “of which there were none.” He turned his stare back onto Tom.

“I think it was the lack of cheese that disappointed Cady,” Tom retorted. He gave Josh a slightly bashful smile. “I was going to suggest some sort of lunch that involved cheese but that's...”

“Cheesy?” Josh ventured. He gave a slight chuckle at this. “She'd probably enjoy that.”

“Really?”

Tom turned a hopeful stare on Josh even as embarrassment crept into his blue eyes.

Josh frowned back at him as he realised what Tom was attempting to ask.

“She's the Democratic Chief of Staff's daughter Tom,” Josh reminded him bluntly. “Anyway, this topic is disturbing me, back to this bill. Actually, let me go talk to Jack and Jill first, I'm concerned Cadence might be doing damage with unicorn talk.”

Josh got up from the desk and hastened out of the room. He wondered how quick Leo would be to blame him for this potential fiasco- a Republican possibly asking his daughter for a date and so soon after all her other scandals. Alright, there were no rules against it but it still seemed wrong.

Josh met Cadence in the corridor as she escaped the room from Jack and Jill.

“Another important call to make?” Josh quipped chidingly.

Josh put his hands into his trouser pockets and gave her a calm stare.

Cadence nodded back as she gave him a neutral expression.

“Yes,” she said, “although when compared to conversations about the flathead lake monster, most other things are important.”

“You know Congressman Landis had a suggestion.”

Josh watched for Cadence's expression at the mention of the congressman's name, there was a glimpse of intrigue before she masked it with polite indifference.

“Oh?”

Josh smiled and nodded. “He said we should offer up financial support from the environmental budget to protect the environment of these water bodies and their residents and that way these creatures are covered under it.”

“Hmm. I like that,” Cadence said. “That is if we're being generous enough to give any money.”

Josh folded his arms and frowned at her. “Don't like it,” he scolded her, “he suggested it for purely selfish reasons. It would mean money to protect Chesapeake Bay and if it came out that he suggested it think of the support it would get him, a Republican,” he reminded Cadence.

Cadence sighed back at him. “Fine, you brought it up. What do I care what he suggested?”

“You were telling him about it,” Josh said almost accusingly.

Cadence frowned this time.

“I see,” she said heatedly, “and he told you. I can already guess what's following. I slipped up and joked with a Republican about sea serpents and blocks of cheese, now he's threatening to run and tell the Republicans and hell maybe the press about how Cadence McGarry is still reckless,” she snapped as ire burned in her grey gaze. She glanced around the hallway in annoyance. “No windows but I can still hear that damn rain, there will be flooding soon.”

Cadence pushed back a stray strand of golden-brown hair before turning a sharp stare back on Josh. “Go on say it, I shouldn't have went for coffee with him.”

Josh weighed out his options quickly. Here was his chance to nip this in the bud and prevent Leo from chewing him out for introducing Cadence to a charming Republican. He realised as he stared back at her and noticed the hollowed eyed stare of woe returning that he couldn't do it.

“No,” he admitted crossly with a shake of his head, “no you've got it wrong. I don't know why I'm telling you this but he can't stop talking about you but not like that, not negatively, it's annoying actually. He wants to take you for lunch so you can get this cheese you're obsessed with.”

Cadence's eyes widened with surprise and her mouth parted in a small o. She slackened her hands by her sides.

“Really?” she queried with an astonished stare.

“Yes,” Josh confessed reluctantly in a groan. “Look, if you and I finish the lake business together then I'll make sure you and Tom talk again before he goes,” Josh offered.

Cadence folded her arms and looked at Josh with fresh suspicion. “Why do you want to help with this?” she demanded.

“I don't,” Josh responded sincerely, “and if Leo asks I'm denying it but I think I'm going to have to deny Tom his requests for the history and arts bill so maybe this will help.”

Cadence let out a snort at this. “I'm to sweeten the blow?”

Josh grimaced at this terminology. “Do you want to date the Republican or not?” he snapped at her impatiently.

Cadence mulled this over briefly as her expression turned serious again. Dating was a novelty she hadn't done in a long time and the idea of being seen with someone without fear of discovery or concern over keeping track of lies appealed to her.

“Do you think he would make a story out of me?” she queried quietly, betraying some of her self-consciousness.

Josh shook his head. “No,” he said sincerely. “He might have some questionable political beliefs but he is a good guy.”

“He's been here for a while, can't you meet him halfway on this bill?” Cadence pried.

Josh shrugged. “I think the issue is that he won't meet me halfway.”

Cadence smiled. “Hmm a guy who stands up to you, I like him more now. Anyway, have fun with Jack, Jill and knock off Nessie.”

Cadence walked past Josh without waiting for his response. He turned to watch her go, contemplating the insults he could call after her before deciding it wasn't worth it.

As Josh re-entered the meeting room he wondered if Sam, C.J and Toby were having as many problems as he was.

“Chessie!” Jill snapped angrily as Josh stepped into the room. “She's calling it Nessie on purpose!”

Josh swallowed down another groan and decided that no one could be having as problematic a day as he was.

–

It was just after two when Josh found himself walking side by side with Cadence to the Oval Office. He didn't think it could be for anything good. The fact that the summons came from Leo but was for both of them to meet at the Oval Office suggested a double telling off.

He considered he was partially to blame for it, jinxing himself by wondering how this already long day could possibly get worse. They were into the afternoon now, passed the point of a late lunch and still Congressman Landis, and Jack and Jill remained in the West Wing with their issues unresolved.

Josh glanced at Cadence out of the corner of his eye. “It's probably your fault,” he suggested calmly.

“Probably,” Cadence agreed brightly.

Josh halted in surprise and stared at her mystified.

Cadence took a few more steps before she noticed Josh had stopped. She turned and looked back at him questioningly. “Why did you stop?”

“Why did you agree to that?” Josh demanded.

Cadence frowned back at him as she raised her hands to her hips. “Really?” she quipped sardonically. “Have you made the headlines several times this year?”

Josh shook his head. “No.”

“Then it's probably my fault,” Cadence retorted pointedly. She turned to continue walking.

Josh frowned this time and hurried back to her to side. “I know I should like you agreeing to that but I don't,” he informed her as he caught up to her.

Cadence shrugged. “Thank God I don't live for pleasing you A.A,” she retorted bitingly.

“Now see that is uncalled for,” Josh admonished her as their walk became a fast pace through the West Wing. “I say something nice...ish and you insult me.”

Cadence glanced over with a taunting smile. “It's not an insult it's your nickname.”

“The second A is for asshole!” Josh cried out as he halted again. He gestured his hands outwards dramatically. “How is that not an insult?” he snapped.

Several staffers looked over curiously before resuming their business when they realised who Josh was shouting at.

“If you keep halting for theatrics we will never get to the Oval Office,” Cadence chided calmly as she continued walking without looking back this time.

“I am not halting for theatrics!” Josh retorted heatedly.

He started to march again, almost moving to a jog to catch up to the young woman.

“We used abbreviation so it was nicer,” Cadence informed him cheerfully, “which is a sign of fondness really.”

“You kept the nickname up after I left, AWOL Asshole, remember?” Josh grumbled in a quieter voice. He didn't want the nickname catching on here in the West Wing.

Cadence glanced over at him again with irritation in her grey stare.

“You left Josh and it hurt people,” she reminded him coldly. “They called you worse than that, they called me worse too when I left. You got to the White House, you can't be that sore about it.”

Josh frowned and pushed a hand through his curls as he declined to respond.

Cadence stopped this time to scrutinise him. “Wait, is that it?” she demanded. “Is it because Gavin told you we changed it? Oh wow Josh you did like the nickname,” she realised.

Josh gave a forced smile and shook his head. “No, no, I didn't,” he insisted, “it was horrible.”

“Mmm like demon and devil and Benedict Arnold,” Cadence mused. She waved off Josh's look of concern with one hand. “I'm not bothered by those,” she assured, “I deserve them but you deserve yours as well.”

“No, I don't,” Josh said defensively as his dark stare filled with anger. “I deserved praise, congratulations, it wasn't an easy decision for me to leave Hoynes, no easier for you I'm sure,” he added pointedly, “but you get welcomed back and I still get scorn. When will you guys get over it? Can't you be better people and stop with the bitterness?”

Cadence's stare filled with surprise. She took a few seconds to consider her next words as her mouth turned downwards in a small frown and she dipped her head slightly. She decided angrily that it had to be the rain putting her in a mood today, it was just a constant noise and the smell of damp seemed to seep in at every window sill. She could feel her head tense with the repetitive noise and figured it was why her patience for Jack, Jill and Josh was low.

Cadence turned her head back up to fix a serious stare on Josh.

“Josh you are the son my father never had,” she informed him in a sincere voice with a hint of woe to it. “You have all these degrees, all these achievements and against all the odds you got President Bartlet to the White House. I couldn't even finish university or the Vice President's campaign trail. I insult you but the truth is you have all my admiration and envy. Just once I'd like my father to look at me and not have worry in his eyes,” she confessed.

Josh raised his hands to his hips before lowering them again as he bobbed his head in a slight nod. He didn't know what to say. He knew he was part of a great team here in the West Wing but sometimes he missed his companions in Hoynes' team even if it was just for a fleeting moment before the President brought them to a basket ball court for some down time or they had a poker night on a rare night of reduced meetings and Josh was reminded then of how he had the best job in the world with the best people.

As Josh looked at Cadence with an expression he tried to keep neutral as his mouth sat in a line fighting off a frown, he recalled the smokey bars the Hoynes' campaign team sought refuge in, full of easygoing laughter as they eased the stress of campaigning with shots and shared jokes, and made bets over karaoke. He remembered the few times John Hoynes had ceased being the senator and offered them a glimpse of a human being when they had taken a break for a game of mini golf one day and he had whooped them all with glee. Josh knew it was spoiled of him but he wanted both worlds sometimes.

Josh gave Cadence another awkward smile wondering why she always brought out the worst in him.

“It might be my fault,” he offered weakly.

Cadence just frowned at him before resuming the march.

They reached Mrs. Landingham's post and she regarded them with the same lower lidded glance of greeting, a stare that gave away nothing.

“Afternoon Mrs. Landingham,” Josh greeted politely. He looked at the cookie jar hopefully.

“Josh,” the woman retorted calmly as she kept her stare down on her notes, “you've kept them waiting, which means no cookie.”

“Sorry, we got caught up,” Josh apologised.

He put his hands in his pockets and smiled, wondering why he was apologising to this woman and not the people he had actually kept waiting. There was just something about Mrs. Landingham he supposed, she had a quiet authority that came to her effortlessly, commanding respect from everyone without her ever having to ask for it.

She nodded and reached for the intercom. “Sir, Josh and Cadence are here,” she announced.

There was a crackle and a murmur of voices.

“No sir, this button,” Leo's voice of instruction called out calmly.

“Damn it, why is it so difficult?” Jed's voice snapped.

Cadence tensed slightly at the tone. She knew it was for the machine but it made her instantly wary of his temper. Ever since the business with the CIA she couldn't shake her wariness for the President. She had deserved his admonishment and his disappointment too but it had been hard to receive and she was always scared now of another rebuking or worse, a stare of hopelessness that told her he had finally given up on her.

“Sir, you're still holding the button,” Leo chided.

“Alright Leo, not everything is as easy as you make it out to be!”

“Sir, just ask them to come in,” Leo retorted calmly.

“Yes, yes, that's implied isn't it,” Jed grumbled. “Mrs. Landingham, send them in please.”

“Certainly sir,” Mrs. Landingham responded cheerfully. She glanced up to Josh and Cadence and gestured them to the Oval Office doors with a smile.

Cadence and Josh exchanged a glance, both willing the other to go first.

“Ladies-” Josh began.

“Don't you dare,” Cadence cut him off sharply.

Josh didn't bother with an argument, instead he led the way in to Leo and Jed.

Jed stood up from his desk as Cadence and Josh entered. Leo was standing beside him and remained at his post as he turned a calm greyish-blue stare on the pair.

“Cadence, Josh,” Leo greeted them with a fixed smile, “why are the lake people still here?” He was quick to the point.

“That nickname has caught on fast,” Josh murmured.

“What do you mean still?” Cadence pried.

“It's after two o'clock,” Leo pointed out as he tapped at his watch for emphasis. “Toby wrapped up with The Secret Society of the Gold Rush over two hours ago and Sam and C.J finished with The Brotherhood of the Bells forty-five minutes ago.”

“That's...very precise,” Josh retorted as he glanced from Leo to Jed. He saw there was a spark of amusement in Jed's stare.

“How?” Cadence demanded as she crossed her arms. “I mean what did they offer them?”

Leo cocked his head at his daughter in surprise. “Nothing,” he retorted bluntly.

“What?” she snapped as she dropped her arms to her sides in surprise. She stared back at her father in disbelief. “That's an option?!”

Josh gave a smirk as he clasped his hands behind him although he was a little wary of an admonishment coming his way, he had dealt with Big Block of Cheese Day before so he knew most of the time you just had to say no, as nicely and vaguely as possible.

“First there's no cheese,” Cadence grumbled, “then there's people talking endlessly about sea serpents that are most definitely, a hundred percent not Nessie,” she sneered sardonically, “now you're telling me I could've told them no, and it's been raining, all day.”

Cadence stared pointedly at the tall arched windows which shone with a smear of damp as fat raindrops broke on their panes.

Leo glanced over his shoulder to follow her gaze to the windows. He frowned slightly before turning his stare back to her.

“That's not all,” Jed spoke up at last as he gave a small smile. “Isn't there some minor business of my Vice going to donate a raccoon to the prestigious Smithsonian Zoo? A truly worthy destination for such an animal,” he added mockingly.

Cadence stared back at him in astonishment. “You know about that,” she replied weakly.

Jed nodded. “I do, as I should, even unusual events like this should be run past the West Wing team.”

“I...I didn't know I should be telling you,” Cadence admitted, “or I would have sir.”

Jed's gaze softened slightly. He realised Cadence had lost some of her confidence and knew it had to be from Colombia. Truthfully, he hadn't enquired much about that business, John's scorn he had taken as an insult initially but then the guilt had gotten to him and he had avoided the matter with some flustered murmurings about Cadence being responsible for her own actions. Jed knew suggesting John had overreacted was a little unfair but Cadence hadn't offered anyone much of an explanation as to what had happened in Colombia and the truth was they all wanted the business behind them. So Jed hadn't pried and had trusted Leo and John to keep an eye on Cadence.

“You didn't,” Jed assured her with a warm smile, “that's John's call and he has phoned me about it. I'm sure he considered getting one of his aides to ring Leo but I'm glad he didn't.” Jed's smile widened as his blue gaze danced with glee. “It was truly very enjoyable listening to him try to make donating a raccoon to a zoo sound important and the next time he gets pompous with me I'm going to remind him of this very meaningful event.”

“Sir,” Leo chided him quietly.

Josh suddenly turned to Cadence with an accusing look. “Wait a minute, is this what you've been doing all day?” he blurted out. “Trying to organise a donation event for a raccoon?”

“And you Joshua,” Jed remarked before Cadence could answer, “what have you been doing all day? Have you been entertaining a Republican in these currently Democratic quarters?”

Josh whipped his head round to face his superior with a bashful smile. “Sir, he's here to support us,” he insisted. “We're trying to come to terms over the history and arts bill.”

Leo dipped his head slightly before giving Josh a calm stare. “It's not gonna happen,” he informed him.

Josh's brown gaze darted over to Leo. “Why not?” he quipped. “Leo I know we've been at it a few hours but Congressman Landis is considering looking at placing restrictions on where the funding is used.”

Leo shook his head. “It's not good judgement right now,” he said quietly.

“We have met with some opposition to this bill,” Jed explained, “too much.”

“Mr President we are going to have to say something better than that to the congressman, he's trying to work with us for the benefit of the people, this doesn't seem like a fair response to his time,” Josh argued.

“Josh let it go, it's not personal,” Leo berated him.

Cadence glanced from her father to the President with suspicion.

“It's not good publicity,” she guessed, “to be pushing through a bill on the back of a Republican's support. You took a hit with the CIA because of me, some of the American people are questioning that judgement and how the CIA were able to do all that they did.” She sighed as she folded her arms again. “I've read the papers just like everyone else. You run this bill and it looks like you can't stand on your own feet without the support of the opposition, who currently hold the House and more than that, it's money for arts after a CIA scandal, it seems frivolous.”

Josh glanced at her angrily and was surprised to see the grief and guilt in her gaze. He realised she wasn't in favour of the President's decision to drop the bill.

“Almost right Cady,” Jed retorted. “Our hit with the CIA, as you put it, was because of their actions, not yours.”

Cadence nodded quietly even as she stared past Jed to the rain soaked windows. “The Congressman has been here for hours,” she murmured, “waiting in the rain.”

“He's been waiting in a nice, dry office actually,” Josh corrected sardonically.

Leo looked at his daughter with puzzlement, wondering why she cared how long the congressman had been waiting.

“Cady, it's the way things happen in politics,” Leo retorted, “he is holding a seat we would like like many other Republicans, we're not going to help him keep it by netting him more support.”

Josh stepped forward as he turned his attention back to the President. “Sir about the lake people,” he began.

“Yes?” Jed looked intrigued. “Leo tells me they want funding for the protection of mythical sea creatures.” Jed smiled again. “I have to say, I do enjoy hearing about these Big Block of Cheese Days. Do you know,” he quipped brightly as he wagged a finger up and down, “Toby almost started a war for us this morning over Mexico's rights to California?”

“I warned him,” Leo lamented.

“Well at least we're working north with the territories we offend,” Cadence jested quietly. She gave Jed and her father an immediate apologetic look as she felt their glowers of disapproval upon her.

“Well, we have spent a lot of time with them too today,” Josh remarked, “even while dealing with the congressman and...” Josh glanced at Cadence again. “A raccoon,” he stated flatly in an attempt to emphasise how it was much less important than what Josh had been dealing with. “And I would like for at least one party to have some success on Big Block of Cheese Day otherwise,” Josh paused to smile winningly at Leo, “what's it all for?”

Leo gave his subordinate a tranquil stare that held just a hint of warning in it telling Josh that he had better not be leading to a joke.

“Go on,” Leo urged him.

“Well, instead of pushing through the bill on arts and history, which we won't get without Republic support, why not permit to extend the funding for the environment to include the environment of water based bodies and their residents,” Josh said with a wave of his hand. “That way, our lake friends are getting what they want but we don't look foolish for it.”

“You would need to narrow that down or I'll be covering the kingdoms of Neptune,” Jed retorted dryly.

Josh nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, we can work that into the writing, I'll say bodies of a certain size, chiefly those that would attract tourism and thus be at a higher risk of damage from it. It also means the public should approve the funding because it's for areas popular with the people that generate funding for many businesses and, of course, our wonderful water creatures tend to be in these tourist areas, some might even suggest they are part of the appeal.”

Cadence listened to Josh with a slight frown, wondering if he was going to gloss over the credit for the idea to get it approved.

“That sounds feasible,” Leo said enthusiastically. “It's for the environment, which always scores big points with the rural areas and it would be nice to see something successful done on Big Block of Cheese Day,” he added as he turned to face Jed. “What do you think sir?”

“There's just one catch,” Josh interrupted as he pointed up slightly with one finger.

“Do we have to suggest some sort of donation to sea dragons?” Jed queried sardonically.

Josh grinned and shook his head as he lowered his hand. “No sir, the idea was Landis', we will have to credit him for it.”

Jed frowned. “Now how do you propose we do that without incurring all the afore mentioned problems of needing Republican support?”

“Because the suggestion was his,” Cadence answered calmly, “and he needs our support to get it through.”

Josh pointed back at her enthusiastically and snapped, “exactly!”

Josh clasped his hands together as he looked to Jed with fresh excitement. “Sir, we'll let him have the credit for the idea but by granting it we're doing him and all other environment loving Republicans a favour. Look, we'll not publicise credit too hard until the funding is secure or the Republicans will try and oppose it out of spite but then Landis can promote it to his people as his suggestion and look good for it but we'll look better for having seen beyond its Republican origin as something to benefit the people.”

“Essentially you want to offer Congressman Landis the opposite of what he came for,” Leo summarised. “Instead of him getting credit for supporting us on a bill we wanted, he will owe us something for pushing through environmental funding at his suggestion.”

“Well yes, sort of,” Josh agreed, “but he wasn't exactly seeking this funding too hard but one of these water things is Chessie from Chesapeake Bay, which is in Landis' area, maybe we could start there with this funding. I'll tell Landis he can leave with something instead of nothing, he'll still have a way to get support in his district but it shouldn't hurt us too much.”

Josh turned a hopeful stare on the President. “Sir, can we do it?”

Jed glanced from Josh to Cadence before cocking his stare in Leo's direction. “I think the kids have done their homework and they've spent a lot of time on it,” he jested. “We should reward them.”

Leo gave a small smile. “We should sir. Toby and Sam can work on the wording to get it brought to the House and put through.”

“Excellent.” Jed turned back to Josh and Cadence with a smile. “Well done you two, see where teamwork gets us? Now, Cadence, can I ask nicely that you don't let John milk this raccoon business and get it wrapped up quickly? I don't want the American people thinking we have nothing better to do.”

Cadence nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Good, you can both go,” Jed dismissed them.

Cadence and Josh left together, bypassing Mrs. Landingham and heading back to the West Wing.

“Well I'd better tell Tom the news,” Josh murmured, “and let him get out of here.”

“Tom,” Cadence repeated as she gave Josh a curious glance, “you kept calling him Landis in there, not even Congressman Landis.”

Josh frowned at the implied accusation. “He is a Republican,” he murmured.

Cadence smiled. “Tom in private, Landis in public,” she mocked him. “Honestly Josh, he is a person, you are allowed to be friendly to him, you won't turn to dust and neither will he.”

“You don't know that, I'm perfectly sure some Republicans might turn to dust when exposed to direct sunlight,” Josh retorted teasingly.

Josh paused as they neared the corridors where the office Tom occupied was. “Do you want to come with me?” he queried quietly. “I didn't get to talk to him about lunch yet.”

“I figured,” Cadence retorted, “it would have to be a very late lunch otherwise.”

Josh gave a flicker of a smile. “I had a few other things come up, we have a delegate of Spain visiting and there has been rioting in Alabama over a tax hike. Anyway,” Josh touched his brow briefly with his right hand, “Tom is going to be mad, maybe you should talk with him another time.”

Cadence gave a bitter smile. “It's fine,” she insisted, “we did this business with the lake people together and the congressman is connected to it now so let's wrap it up together.”

Josh nodded. “Alright.”

Josh led the way back to Congressman Tom Landis.

Tom glanced up with a glint of frustration as the door opened but was quick to smile when he saw Cadence following after Josh.

“Good afternoon Cady,” he greeted brightly. “How has your day been since this morning?”

Cadence smiled back. “Good, except I still keep saying Nessie instead of Chessie,” she confessed.

Tom chuckled at this. “You get the hang of it,” he reassured.

Josh gave a faint smile before he took a step towards the desks Tom was standing behind.

“Tom, we aren't going ahead with the bill,” he confessed.

Tom looked at Josh in confusion before annoyance quickly took over. “Why?” he demanded.

Josh gave him a sympathetic stare. “It wouldn't look good for us,” he admitted, “to get a bill approved only because a Republican backed it but, we have something to offer you.”

Tom raised his hands to hips as he frowned back at Josh. “What?” he quipped bluntly.

“You mentioned using money from the environmental budget to cover water bodies and their residents-”

“Josh come on,” Tom snapped as he shook his head in annoyance.

Josh raised his hand in protest. “Tom hear me out. We'll pass it, for water bodies that attract tourists and therefore incur damage and need the extra financial support and we'll let you say it was your suggestion, you can have the credit for the idea.”

Tom continued to frown as he raised his hands slightly before slapping them against his thighs. “You'll let me say it was my idea? It was! I'm getting screwed with my pants on,” he sneered. “It's not you need me but I need you to pass something I suggested on a whim.”

Tom's blue stare darted to Cadence with hostility. “Did you come back here just for the show?” he demanded. “See how they take out Republicans in the White House.”

“Tom no,” Josh interrupted as he glanced over at Cadence. “Come on, this isn't personal. You can have this or nothing,” he added firmly.

“We've achieved something because of you,” Cadence remarked quietly. “Big Block of Cheese Day is serious to the people that come here but it seems like a novelty and they usually get turned away because we can't find a solution, which is a failure. I've had a lot of failures this month and I wrote today off as another one the moment I walked into the room and saw knock off Nessie on a projection.” Cadence smiled. “You came up with the solution, an actual solution to the question of how to support aquatic monsters without looking stupid and more than that, it benefits the people because it protects the natural attractions they love.”

“We'll start with Chesapeake Bay,” Josh offered.

Tom nodded but he was staring back at Cadence with a small smile. “Have either of you ever been there?” he pried.

“No,” Josh retorted.

Cadence shook her head.

“It's incredibly beautiful,” he enthused, “you should.”

Tom turned and reached for his jacket, pulling it from the back of the chair and tugging it on. “Well it's a defeat but I'll have to take,” he said, still sounding bitter.

Tom stepped around the desks and halted before Josh. “You'll let my staff know when we're ready to go ahead with this?”

Josh nodded reassuringly.

“Alright.” Tom extended out a hand.

Josh accepted the hand and shook it. “Goodbye congressman.”

“Goodbye Josh.”

Tom released the hand and turned to Cadence. He offered her a small smile. “Goodbye Cady.”

Cadence kept her expression polite as she nodded bye. “Bye Tom.”

Tom stepped past her before halting and glancing back again. “I have to ask before I go, did you get the cheese issue resolved? Any cheese related food for lunch?”

Cadence's smile returned and she shook her head. “I skipped lunch,” she admitted.

Tom looked thoughtful for a moment. He glanced at his watch and gave her another grin. “Could we arrange for dinner?”

Cadence looked apologetic. “I have an engagement with the Vice President at five,” she explained.

“Hmm.” Tom nodded. “Well-”

“Well then you need food now,” Josh piped up suddenly. “I mean you missed lunch and you're going to miss dinner.”

Tom and Cadence glanced over at the man in surprise.

Josh gave them both a sheepish smile and shrugged. He contemplated retracting his words or just smacking his head on the wall behind them whilst chanting 'idiot' over and over but he resisted.

Cadence turned her attention back to Tom. “You probably had lunch, didn't you?” she queried.

Tom nodded. “I did but I feel it's important you get some cheese on this block of cheese day thing.”

Cadence laughed. “I really would like that.”

“How about cheesecake to celebrate you victory?” Tom suggested.

“Sure.”

Tom glanced over at Josh. “It's your victory too, do you want to come?” he offered politely.

Josh looked back in surprise before shaking his head with a smile. “No but thanks, I'll deliver the good news to Jack and Jill.”

Cadence looked startled at this. “Right, them,” she murmured. She looked to Josh.

“I can deliver the news fine,” Josh assured, “you keep annoying them with the Nessie thing anyway.”

Cadence gave Josh a stare of gratitude and mouthed the word 'thanks' before turning back to Tom.

Josh watched the pair go with mixed feelings. Part of him had wanted to join them and he didn't know why. Was it just because he'd been nostalgic today?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why Tom? Why not Tom? He had an interesting chemistry with Josh in the show O.O. Also, not an entirely demonic Republican, too few of them on the show, if I ever finish the fic and do a sequel maybe it could include Ainsley, I loved her.


	30. Lucky Day

Cadence scurried forward through the rain to the small cluster of umbrella shielded people. Her smokey sky eyes darted to the Vice President first before she spied the small carrier in Gavin's hands and gave a wide smile. Her pace increased to a small run, prompting Agent Casper to walk a little quicker whilst still maintaining a polite distance from the young woman.

Cadence pressed her palms to her thighs, pushing against her wrinkled grey skirt as she bent over to view the contained animal.

“Ooh what a little cutie you are,” she enthused happily.

Gavin pulled a face of disgust at Cadence's cooing to the animal and glanced around wearily for the small press party that were due here.

The raccoon chittered back angrily. It had been making its unhappiness at being in a carrier known for the past ten minutes.

John eyed Cadence carefully as she fussed over the pest. She looked a little unkempt, slightly frazzled from her run and she was starting to get soaked with the ongoing drizzle. He glanced over to one of his umbrella holding aides and gestured to Cadence with a gloved hand.

The aide nodded before moving to shelter Cadence with large, black umbrella.

There were four aides whose current purpose was sheltering the small Vice Presidential party with large, wide umbrellas. They were doing an admirable job against the drizzle which was starting to get heavier but there was little they could do for the chill.

John rubbed his black gloved hands together before moving to stand nearer Cadence and Gavin. Until now he had been making an effort to avoid the black masked bane of his existence today.

“Cady do you ever wear a coat?” John queried with exasperation.

Cadence stood upright, turning quickly to glance over her shoulder at the VP. She gave him a smile. “I'm wearing a jacket,” she said as she raised her hands to the collar of her grey blazer and gestured down to it.

John shook his head even as his gaze filled with amusement. “That is not a coat.”

“I've a scarf too,” she added defensively.

“Still not a coat,” John scorned.

Gavin swallowed down a sigh. He didn't know if he wanted some other form of company or was glad that other staffers weren't here for this. Cal had washed his hands of it, Sandra hadn't been invited and Tanya had made a point of being too busy to even be asked. It was just Gavin and Cadence with the expected Secret Service party and a few aides who, Gavin thought unkindly, were little more than the help acting like butlers and maids by providing shelter from the rain.

Frantic footsteps on the hard, damp ground signalled the arrival of the press. There were a couple of reporters approaching looking a little moody with being assigned such a silly piece on a miserable day with their cameramen and sound guys.

Cadence looked over at them wearily. To her all press were the enemy lately but it was a personal feeling she knew she had to shake off, she was in Public Relations damn it, her whole job was based around being friends with these people.

Cadence studied their surrounds quickly, it was after five and what little daylight there was, was fading fast, it was cold, grim and damp.

“Where's this guy going to live?” she queried as she turned her attention to the zoo keeper and manager who had been offered up for the ceremonious raccoon donation.

The zoo keeper, an attractive blonde somewhere in her mid-twenties, flashed a smile and gestured with one hand to a paddock over to the right.

“In there, we already have three friends waiting,” she retorted cheerfully.

Cadence nodded as she looked to the plexiglass guarded area. It looked spacious with trees and greenery as well as a rocky background that offered some nice shady dens for shelter.

“Alright, well let's stand there then,” she said.

Cadence started walking over to the enclosure prompting the aide with the umbrella to move quickly to match her pace.

“Are you going to name him Mr Vice President?” the zoo keeper quipped shyly as she walked with them. She lingered on the other side of an agent and had to lean over slightly to spy out the man.

John glanced over to her, thinking it was an idiotic question but when he caught her bashful stare he made himself smile back and even offered up a small chortle.

“I don't know, what's a good name for a raccoon?” he quipped aloud.

The zoo keeper was ready to answer but John had turned back to Cadence this time.

John was matching the young woman's pace with ease, keeping himself almost at her side.

“Cady, you're bound to have a suggestion,” John said.

Cadence looked at John with surprise. “I...I'm not really sure,” she murmured.

John gave her a serious stare as they came to a halt before the cage. He stepped close to her as he turned to put his back to the glass.

“I could make a dedication for him,” John said softly.

Cadence stared in at the raccoon enclosure, tensing as she heard the rain patting hard on the umbrellas. She knew who John meant, the boy always on the edge of her mind, brought to the surface every now again when something triggered a memory. He had died in the rain like so many others in the jungle. Cadence shuddered and immediately feigned the gesture for cold as she pointedly wrapped her scarf tighter about herself.

“His family might think it was a mockery,” she retorted quietly. “Let's not do that.”

Cadence turned away from the enclosure and glanced over to the carrier again. “Could we just call him Lucky?” she ventured.

John smiled and nodded. “Sure.”

Cadence glanced up at John again, conveying her gratitude in her grey-blue gaze. She realised they only had seconds before the press reached them and made herself focus on the task at hand. She turned her gaze back to the carrier in Gavin's hand.

“Right Gavin,” Cadence murmured, “better hand Lucky to the Vice President.”

“Gladly,” Gavin grumbled as he stepped over to John and held the carrier out.

The gesture prompted a loud, irate chittering from within.

Cadence doubled over again to give the raccoon a sympathetic stare. “It's okay Lucky,” she said soothingly, “it won't be for long, then you're going to a nice, safe home.”

John frowned slightly at the carrier before he became aware of the cameras that were preparing to film him. He accepted the handle of the cage in his right hand and held it by his side like a shopping bag.

“Hold it with a little more care Mr Vice President,” Cadence advised quietly, “it's an adorable, living creature not a bag of of potatoes.”

Despite her comment, Cadence found it hard to temper the attraction in her stare as she took in John holding the carrier. He was poised and handsome, attired in a long, black, woollen, Alexander McQueen coat with a perfectly ironed white shirt collar on display and a glimpse of an expensive silk tie striped in red, white and blue.

Cadence knew John was here performing this almost degrading publicity stunt because of her but as much as it pleased her it upset her too. Why did John keep complicating things? She had been through enough scandals these past few months, she could suffer no more and she did not think her father or the President could forgive her for any more.

Gavin snorted at Cadence's remark and raised a hand to his mouth in an attempt to hide the gesture.

John raised the cage half-heartedly before glancing to the blonde zoo keeper. “Shall we?” he quipped.

The cameras flicked on to record and the reporters readied themselves.

Cadence and Gavin stepped back out of the way, sheltering together under one of the large umbrellas. The rain had gotten heavier and it was difficult for them to hear their boss over it.

The reporters made a valiant effort with their interview, smiling cheerfully despite the heavy greyness and talking lightly as they tried not to talk over each other when asking questions.

John put on a fine show of charm, smiling brightly as he held up the carrier to show the fortunate raccoon to the cameras. He talked so chirpily one would have believed he was sincerely happy to be there.

The young zoo keeper beaming at the Vice President only added to the happy atmosphere despite the rain.

Cadence watched with satisfaction despite her growing annoyance for the rain.

John handed the carrier over to the zoo keeper completing the ceremonial gesture of a donation to the zoo and he shook hands with the manager who stood beside her.

They watched and waited as the zoo keeper took Lucky into his new home and released him from the carrier. There was a small smattering of applause before the obligatory photos were taken and the presentation ended with Lucky filmed investigating his new surroundings.

Cadence gave a small smile as she watched. “Stay safe please,” she murmured quietly.

Once it was concluded, the reporters were quick with their thanks to the Vice President before they scurried off to escape the weather.

John thanked the zoo keeper and her manager again before shaking their hands a final time. He reunited with Cadence and Gavin and they headed for the zoo exit and their cars.

“Cadence how did you get here?” John quipped.

“Agent Casper got a car arranged,” Cadence explained.

“Agent Casper,” John repeated in confusion.

“Behind us,” she retorted.

John glanced over his shoulder and spied the vaguely familiar agent walking discreetly behind them.

Agent Casper gave the Vice a small smile. He walked unshielded from the rain but showed no discomfort from it.

John nodded back before turning his attention back to Cadence. “It's good he's still with you,” he approved.

“Is it?” she quipped bitterly.

“Yes,” John said firmly. He stared down at her sternly but the look went unmissed.

Cadence stared down at the puddles as they walked. She was unwilling to start the argument with John that she had had so many times with her father now.

“So,” she said with some forced merriment, “can you explain how this all came about? You donating Lucky to the Smithsonian Zoo?”

John gave a small grin when Cadence glanced up at him curiously.

“He startled some of the secretaries last night and they called pest control,” he explained, “but I thought he should have, shall we say, a Vice Presidential pardon.”

Cadence laughed at this. “Well I'll thank you on his behalf for that.” Cadence's stare turned serious as she caught John's intense blue stare. “Thank you Mr Vice President,” she said sincerely.

Cadence felt a flush of heat rush through here as she became aware of their closeness. She had gotten better at ignoring her urges when she was close to John but considering what he had done today it was hard to subdue her attraction to the man. She swallowed hard and fidgeted with the ends of her striped scarf.

John nodded as he tried to suppress his own rise of attraction as Cadence sounded out his title.

“You and Lucky are very welcome,” he assured.

John's stare gave nothing away as he held Cadence's grey-blue stare. He watched her pupils dart about, hyper with anxiety, and glanced down as her hands rose to fiddle with her scarf. He recognised the signs of unease and he despaired a little for her. He wondered for the umpteenth time what had happened in her missing hours in Colombia and knew he would have to press the issue soon. A flicker of anger rose in him as he wondered why in the hell Leo wasn't pressing it or pushing her to see someone.

Gavin, who was paying little heed to the conversation, filled with delight at the sight of the cars.

“Finally, somewhere dry,” he said happily.

Gavin glanced to John for permission to take shelter.

“Go ahead,” John said quietly with a nod to his Deputy Chief of Staff.

Gavin gave him a grateful look before he hastened over to the cars.

John smiled at Gavin's retreat from the rain before glancing back to Cadence.

“Is your car still waiting?” he quipped.

Cadence nodded and gestured to a black car across the road. It was ordinary, nothing too flashy, just a plain five seater with the driver waiting up front. John wasn't entirely too happy with it, sure it blended in but there wasn't much in the way of speed or protection.

At the sound of a car door slamming, the young woman tensed up and her head whipped about wildly as she looked for potential danger with wary eyes. She only just resisted the urge to duck down for cover as a few panicked puffs of air escaped her in rapid succession.

“Cady what's wrong?” John queried in concern. His voice was strained as he tried to keep his alarm back from it.

The Vice President was staring at her with worry. He had followed her darting gaze but saw nothing out of the ordinary and his agents were not reacting as if there were anything to be worried about.

Cadence shook her head dismissively. “Nothing, it's just been one of those days,” she murmured.

John frowned as he knew she was being evasive and that pushing the issue wasn't going to get him an honest answer. He was also conscious of the stares Cadence had netted from his staff with her tensing. He didn't everyone focused on them, it made it impossible to have a discreet conversation with her.

“Bad day at the White House?” John pried curiously. He gave a sardonic smile at this. “I couldn't imagine what that's like,” he added teasingly in an attempt deviate from the seriousness she had brought to them.

Cadence didn't smile at the jest, she was busy thinking back to her late lunch. Tom had taken her to a nice little place a few minutes drive from the White House called The Golden Cornerstone. She smiled thinking back of the appealing lopsided grin he kept giving her, each time he had smiled his mouth had tugged up in a corner on the right side of his face. Tom had made joking enquiries about cheese before insisting on getting a cheese platter for dessert, certain after all Cadence's talk of cheese that he couldn't conclude his day without having some.

“It wasn't all bad,” she admitted.

John wondered at the expression on her face and found it odd that he could only be suspicious at the sudden soft glow of happiness that crossed her face, banishing some of the fear held there.

“And why was that?” he queried.

Cadence stared back at him and knew she couldn't tell him about Congressman Landis. It was silly but she didn't want John thinking she had gone on a dinner date. It had been light hearted with nothing but conversation and that too had been light and mostly about cheese and Chessie but she still didn't want John to know about it.

Cadence studied John, taking in his intense blue eyes and his soft mouth which wavered between a frown and a smile as he didn't know which to offer her. She felt an urge to stretch up and kiss him but it was wrong, it was always wrong and Cadence was feeling too tired for more scandal and fed up with having to constantly be conscious of her surroundings and the ever watching eyes. She wondered if she had leaned across the table at her late lunch/dinner to kiss Landis would it have mattered. Would there have been a ripple of rumours to follow?

“There were people talking about sea monsters,” she retorted.

John didn't know how to respond to that. He was feeling a tension rising in him and he knew his people were starting to wonder why the hell he was lingering so long in the rain to talk to one of his team.

“Sea monsters,” he murmured dryly.

John glanced to his waiting car, aware now that the rain was becoming heavier and turning into a torrent. He didn't want to linger with idle conversation but it was too late in the day to invite Cadence back to the office without raising suspicions and she looked tired. He wanted to talk to her but he had to go over his fossil fuel speeches with Cal and he knew Suzanne and her ire would be waiting for him. He considered that he should probably make arrangements to have dinner with Suzanne to make up for the lost breakfast.

“Have you had dinner?”

The question was out there before John could help it.

Cadence looked back at him in surprise.

“I was thinking that we all could,” John added quickly, aware of the aides in earshot, “you, me, Gavin, and Cal.”

Cadence shook her head. She felt uneasy in the rain, the smell of damp was beginning to sicken her and she had spent so long on edge today that she was exhausted. All she wanted was sanctuary, a hot bath and a glass or two of wine or whiskey.

“I had a very late lunch,” she admitted, “but thank you Mr Vice President.”

John felt a small flare of anger at her refusal. He thought of how he had humiliated himself today for her- before his wife, his colleagues, the press and whatever part of the nation that would be tuning into this evening's feel good piece on the news. Why had he done it? Out of a selfless fear of knowing how upset she would be if he hadn't, or a more selfish desire for a reward when she found out what he had done? John realised he didn't really know, maybe it was both, he wanted to avoid Cadence being upset, especially after all she had gone through but he was also hoping that this might be the thing that finally brought her closer to him.

Even now, John still found himself thinking of Cadence in her midnight blue evening dress, swinging it around seductively as she danced with Josh, completely unaware of the allure she had caused in John that evening. He had been so eager to kiss her out on the veranda, hell he had even considered it might be worth the risk at some point but then she had started talking about his wife and shot him down.

John reached out to her with a gloved hand, giving a small smile as he saw the eager spark in her stare before she banished it. He gripped her right arm gently, pleased that she still wanted him despite her refusals. He tried to fan down the anger within him, reminding himself that Colombia really wasn't that long ago and it was the fear of further rumours and scandals that kept Cadence at bay.

“That's fine,” John murmured. “Just tell me, are you definitely alright?”

Cadence pushed back a strand of damp, fair hair with two fingers and nodded insistingly. “I am,” she said as her head bobbed up and down.

Cadence pulled back from his grip and raised both hands to her scarf in a show of adjusting it.

John nodded even though he saw the lie in her eyes.

“Okay. Cady, can you do one thing for me?”

“Yes Mr Vice President?” She looked up at him curiously, at once intrigued and worried about what he would ask.

John smiled down at her, lust creeping into the edges of his warm stare as she sounded out his title was more and unwittingly stoked his ego with it. He tapped the tip of her nose lightly with one finger. “Get a coat,” he retorted.

Cadence looked surprised before she smiled and nodded again.

“I will Mr Vice President.” She glanced over her shoulder, searching the streets for something that might seem out of the ordinary. “Anyway,” he gaze flickered back to John, “we had better get going, we've kept everyone in the rain long enough.”

John nodded agreeably and glanced to his car again. “I'll see you tomorrow Cady.”

“Bright and early sir.”

Cadence moved to the cross the road to her waiting car, all too aware of Agent Casper behind her. She wondered how closely he had observed her conversation with the VP and if he thought anything of it. She shook her head and fidgeted with her hair once more before cursing crossly as the sound of car doors closing had her jumping slightly and splashing through a puddle in an attempt to compose herself.

Cadence let out a weary sigh as her driver got out and opened the back passenger door for her.

She stood staring in at the vacant seats with an empty stare. She remembered the van and tried to think if it had been raining that day. She didn't think it had but the smell of damp had been there too- hot blood and salty sweat, yes that kind of damp, not the rain. The rain had been in the jungle and the street where Robbie had died.

Cadence jumped again at the sound of another car door closing and let out a gasp of surprise as she turned to the right and stumbled back on her heels.

“Cady?”

Agent Casper was staring at her with a cautious stare. He was a few feet back, waiting for her to get in before he could enter the front passenger side.

Mike Casper might being seeing Cadence less during the days but he still saw her enough to notice the continuous unease in her. Some days were better than others but today was definitely bad. Knowing only what he had been told about her trips to Colombia, Mike couldn't guess what was triggering her paranoia today or what exactly it was she was afraid of- CIA agents, Colombian soldiers, rebels? Mike didn't know and he figured it would be up to a therapist to figure it out.

Cadence gave Mike and the waiting driver an apologetic smile before getting into the car wordlessly. The only decision she could be bothered with now was whether to have a glass of wine or a bath first or perhaps both together. Whiskey was out the window, looking at John had reminded her of her last bender on whiskey.

Mike waved the driver on and he closed Cadence's waiting door gently, the gesture still had her tensing slightly. When Mike got into his seat and glanced at Cadence in the rear view mirror he saw she had her eyes closed and her hands clenched tightly on her legs.

\---

Cadence climbed into the waiting bath with a satisfied sigh. It was steamy, only just toeing the line between pleasantly warm and scalding, exactly how she liked it. She placed the glass of wine on the white edge behind her and slid down into the bubbles.

Her eyes closed as she continued moving down, slipping under the water to give her hair a good soak and have just a few seconds of bliss. She hoped to block out the wretched, unending sound of rain for just a moment.

In the darkness the gentle lapping of the bath water about her skin seemed louder than normal. The gurgle in her ears swiftly became an uncomfortable roar. The heat of the water suddenly became suffocating and she felt a rush of panic as she realised how vulnerable she was in this moment, deaf and blind to anyone who wanted to charge through the door.

Cadence rose up gasping for air. She clutched the edges of the bath before leaning over to grab at the waiting towel to dab her face with. Angry that her ideal moment of privacy and peace was being destroyed by unwanted memories, she determined to dismay them. After drying her hands she reached to the small wooden cabinet where she had retro tape player waiting. She hit play and reached for the wine glass as some disco music came out through the lone speaker.

Cadence took a sip of the sparkling white and pressed her head back against the back of the tub. She told herself stubbornly that she wasn't going to be this mess anymore. She had conquered Colombia and the CIA, it was done and she had survived.

Her gaze dropped ahead to the end of the bath and she frowned. The steam made her focus hazy and she felt a little rush of dizziness with the heat. The end of the bath seemed impossibly far away and the gentle motion of the water gave her an unsettled sense of vertigo as if everything was bouncing up and down.

The jungle had been humid and wet, even without the rain. She felt her skin slick with sweat as she was forced onto a plane that shook unsteadily bobbing up and down in a rushed take off before it was suddenly shot down.

Cadence slammed the wine glass down angrily behind her.

“Shit,” she cursed aloud as she stood up from the bath causing the water to slosh loudly against the sides.

She knew she wasn't going to relax in here despite her best efforts. She reluctantly turned on the shower head raised in the centre and bowed her head under it to wash away the bubbles hastily. Hearing it combine with the rain filled her with anger and she rushed to wash her hair, determined not to linger on it.

After a quick rinse, she thumped off the tape player, climbed out of the bath and pulled out the plug to drain it.

The rubber duck from John's suite in the Driskill Hotel caught her gaze as she bundled a towel around her. As she studied it she considered another distraction for her mood.

Cadence knew she couldn't stay here alone tonight, every little thing was getting her guard up. She didn't feel safe here, even knowing Mike was outside. He maybe could stop Colombian rebels seeking vengeance but he couldn't do much for the phantom soldiers in her head lurking at every corner, conjured to life with a bang that had her thinking of gunfire or that relentless rain that took her straight back to the jungle.

Cadence frowned as she dried herself. She didn't want to be this way but the problem was she couldn't be anything but herself. She kept staring at the duck, she had wanted to embrace John today, to kiss him in a flurry of passion so he would know how deeply grateful she really was for what he had done for Lucky. She knew how difficult it would have been for him to do it, how many would have viewed him as ridiculous for it while she had only felt desire and adoration, knowing the gesture was for her.

“Damn it.”

Cadence turned away from the duck as she unwound the towel from her body and wrapped it about her hair. John was married. John had always been married, all the time she had known him and irregardless of his and her feelings towards his wife an affair was wrong. A sex scandal would be hugely embarrassing, for John, for the President and for her father. After everything Cadence had put them through this she could not add this to it.

Cadence stared at her reflection angrily. She saw her sins reflected back as if written upon her face- traitor, whore, liar. Her mouth wrinkled slightly as she gripped the edge of the sink with both hands and suppressed a whimper. She just wanted to do things right, to make her father proud, to be good at her job and to have someone for herself without deception and lies.

A sardonic smile slipped out, ugly as it reflected back to her in the mirror. She figured a lasting relationship wasn't on the cards for her. Well hell, tonight it didn't matter, even just a few hours of distraction would be something. Meaningless sex might even be a relief, a novelty without the burden of secrecy.

Cadence slipped on her underwear and dressing gown before heading out of the bathroom and across a brightly lit hall to her bedroom where her hairdryer waited.

Once she had dried her hair her telephone rang. It was John. With a single call Cadence's resolve weakened.


	31. A Serious Affair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I'll give a warning but I can't say why without a spoiler. So yeah there's a warning, I guess, given the theme of the fic you can figure out why.

People always imagined war as some grand and dangerous event in a far off country fought by faceless soldiers who only became people when they died. The war that people fought within themselves was never considered as serious until it was too late yet it was much worse because people's internal struggle with themselves was endless. The victories that came were temporary, a win until the next quarrel but the war never really ended.

Cadence couldn't decide if her current struggle was ending in a win or a lose. Was it possible that it was both?

It was late, she didn't know the exact hour and she wasn't really concerned with it. Most of the past hour had passed in an energetic, frenzied blur. She had mastered her best mask to get here, assuring Agent Casper that it was work related but that it would probably take her into the late evening and since she wasn't tired anyway she would probably let it. He had told her to call no matter the hour so he could ensure she had an escort back home. He knew she was troubled but he also understood she needed the distraction of work.

Getting into the Naval Observatory without raising questions had been the next task. Cadence had accomplished this by being brazen, arriving her with a satchel of notes and dressed in a pale brown skirt and jacket combo with kitten heels and a cream shirt, looking business ready. She waltzed through quickly after the security check, stepping with a slight fluster to suggest an urgency to her task. The urgency was sincere if not her claim that she had an important matter to discuss with the Vice President.

John had even supplied the story. He had phoned Cadence with concern, admitting that he wasn't assured that she was alright. When she had been unable to dispute his concerns he had asked her to come and see him, assuring her that they would have privacy. He had insisted she was worrying him and suggested that she shouldn't be alone. Finally, he had remarked that he knew she was upset and needed a distraction and if she wanted they could just spend the night talking about a certain Texan senator and come up with some sort of plan to stop Senator Whyte from gaining an edge in Congress.

Cadence was here now and the panicked rush in her had turned into a different kind of unsettled excitement.

Cadence and John were in the study of the Naval Observatory, making a grand pretence of work. As Cadence had predictably arrived in the rainstorm without a coat and damp from her run from Agent Casper's car to the building, John had ensured a roaring fire was waiting for her.

Cadence had meant to occupy one of the seats before the fireplace but the vibrant amber and brilliant white flames had been too inviting. She was seated on the soft cream carpet with her legs curled at her left side as she stared at the fire and tried to banish her urges in the flames. She was grateful that the sound of the fire dulled down the patter of the rain against the windows.

John was seated on one on the singular chairs observing the young woman. Her pleated skirt had ridden up her thighs when she had sat exposing the upper curve of her thighs. It clung to her with damp outlining the edge of her buttocks and inviting John to guess what she had hidden underneath. Her jacket was off and discarded to the chair opposite him leaving her in a loose fitted cream shirt with ivory buttons, it was dry and left the flesh beneath it a tantalising mystery.

The pair had been quiet for the past ten minutes. John was willing to offer only silence if it was what the woman wanted. He had seen her tortured stare when she had arrived and knew today had been difficult for her. What he didn't know was why exactly- was it the raccoon, was she thinking of that boy Robbie? Was it Colombia as well? That memory was still fresh yet John didn't know what memory she had of it because she still wasn't sharing.

The fire crackled and Cadence shrank back suddenly from it.

“Are you alright?” John pried with a look of alarm as he wondered if she had been singed.

Cadence turned up to him with a mocking gaze as she let a sardonic smile slip out. “No,” she said calmly, “but I think that's okay.”

She dipped her head slightly and swept some of her hair over her right shoulder. “I'm tired of jumping at every little thing today,” she confessed. “It's just been a very long, exhausting day.”

Cadence stood up and pushed down some of the crinkles in her shirt.

For a moment as he stared up at her John feared she might leave. If she did he was going to have to refill the empty crystal whiskey glass sitting discarded on the polished ovular table behind him. He had taken two glasses of it before he had even phoned her. One glass had been to ease back the anger of Suzanne's heated words of insults at him before she had stormed off for a flight to L.A with lies about charity events down there. Suzanne had just wanted away from him and the mockery she claimed he was becoming. The second glass was because the first had left him thirsty for it. John knew that was a dangerous thing but he couldn't resist, the whiskey he had quietly gotten brought in here was a good year after all.

“I'm sorry,” Cadence said softly. “Your day seems to have been a little complicated too and I haven't shown you the gratitude I feel for it. I know you rescued that raccoon for me John and I know how hard it was for you to stand before those cameras looking like a novelty but you are no novelty Mr Vice President,” she added seriously. “You care about people, enough to put your own reputation at stake.”

Cadence stepped up to him and leaned down to grasp his hands with her own. She held his gaze as he looked up at her with surprise.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

John stood up, moving quickly to kiss her. He didn't give her a chance to second guess it. His hands were about her, one up into her hair pressing her against against him whilst the other wrapped loosely about her waist.

Cadence let out a moan of defeat as she closed her eyes and welcomed his rush of kisses. She was too tired for the struggle anymore.

Cadence had tried to do right in Colombia and had been punished severely for it twice now, being good had left her beaten, being charitable had made her a witness of murders, trying to tell the truth had seen her made out as a liar and a traitor, and trying to fix it had caused her to be scarred all over again both physically and mentally.

She had tried to quash it all, force the memories away with distractions of work and origami and dinner with a smiling congressman but nothing had quite worked today. The rain was determined to keep her nightmarish memories going and with every sudden noise she was twitching like the proverbial deer in headlights. Trying to compose herself and suffer the memories silently had drained her. She was left without energy for this new battle of lust and wills with John.

The right thing to do was resist and walk away but Cadence was so sick of doing the right thing when she was only ever punished for it. If she walked away she would be returning to sit alone in her apartment and either drink or cry or both as memories of Robbie, the false Benjamin Sparks and all those poor villagers she had made friends with consumed her. Suzanne didn't want John so why couldn't Cadence have him for this one night?

Cadence reached up to his dark jacket and slid it down his shoulders.

John slackened his arms to let the jacket fall away but it was happening too slow for him. When the jacket hit the floor, he lifted her with both hands and carried her over to a waiting table.

Cadence trembled with excitement when one of John's hands slid up her skirt as he placed her down on the smooth wood of a table.

John felt a stir as Cadence rushed to unbutton his trousers and he smiled as she faltered slightly as a sudden groan of excitement escaped her.

John pulled his hand away and reached to her blouse, fighting with the buttons as he felt her warm hand tug out his member and begin to work it into an eager hardness.

John pulled her shirt open to expose the lacy white bra underneath and moved to free the clasp at her back.

Cadence leaned up to meet his mouth with her own as he fumbled with the silk of her skirt and the lace of her bra. With a little effort he got them free and finally exposed her breasts all the while getting tenser as she continued to tease his member into erectness.

A gasp escaped him and his blue stare locked with hers in a moment of seriousness.

“Cady if we're doing this I need to put on protection,” he murmured.

Cadence shook her head. “It's alright,” she assured with a small smile, “I...I've got a coil it's fine.”

John wondered at her response. She was only thinking of a pregnancy risk, perhaps naively thinking that he hadn't been with anyone except Suzanne. His gaze hardened a little as he considered the implication that she must have slept with others since him to have a need for a coil.

John smiled and reached up with his right hand to stroke one of her nipples into a hardness that betrayed her own desire. He dipped his mouth down to her and took the other nipple in his mouth and teased it with his tongue drawing a pleasing moan from her.

Cadence sank her hands into his dark hair and let out another moan of pleasure as she raised her legs to wrap about John and pull him down towards her.

John leaned back and looked to her inquisitively with his dark eyebrows raised slightly. He felt a pant escape him and laughed. He was in good shape and yet here she was making him breathless!

His hands embraced her and he let his fingertips sink into her flesh slightly as he pulled her upright and into him.

Cadence wrapped her legs about his muscular form to support herself against him as he penetrated her. She gave a gasp of delight before she started to move her hips rhythmically against him, trying hard to ignore the slight twinge of pain she felt on her right side where the scar of a T marking her lingered. T for traitor. T for thief. T for tramp.

Cadence closed her eyes and kissed at John passionately as she started to the sweat and thought reluctantly of the humidity in Colombia where she had been marked. She was desperate to forget it all and let her tongue roam through John's mouth as she tried hard to lose herself in the moment.

John was almost standing upright as he balanced Cadence in his tight grasp and he pushed hard against her, giving a small grin as he felt the table push back with their efforts.

He wrapped his arms about her, one hand pressing against the warm skin of her hips whilst the other pressed her back forward causing her breasts to push into his chest. Assured that she was stable, he turned with her and suddenly dropped to floor, pushing her against the soft carpet.

Cadence had only a moment to adjust to her new position before he pushed against her again only faster this time. She reached a hand up to brush against his chest and marvelled at the taut muscles there before her fingertips stretched up against his cheek and then slid down to touch the corner of his mouth.

Cadence had a sudden flashback to Tom Landis' adorable crooked grin and she felt a sudden rush of confusion. She made herself focus on John as she reminded herself that he had suffered humiliation at her expense today and had gone out of his way to save a raccoon for her.

Cadence tried to match John's stamina with her own but her mental exhaustion was draining on her body now too and she felt fatigue threatening to end her adrenaline.

One of John's hands roamed over breasts, cupping them gently before he stirred her into another rush of pleasure by teasing at the nipples again. He kissed her and smiled as she bucked against him with the sudden throes of ecstasy.

John felt the damp warmth of Cadence's release and it brought his own about swiftly after.

As the wave of euphoria faded a sudden moment of irrational panic seized Cadence. She was trapped beneath John and soaked in sweat. It brought an unwanted rush of familiarity, a feeling of containment in sticky, sweaty conditions. For a moment her vision flashed to blackness and she was in that horrid van again feeling the cold steel of a gun nozzle against her head and wondering if the end had come.

John, basking in his moment of happiness, snapped back to reality as he felt the woman tense beneath him. He glanced down and saw the wild whites of her eyes showing and he knew she wasn't seeing him anymore.

John pulled away from her carefully, tipping his weight to the right so she wasn't underneath him anymore.

“Cady,” he addressed her gently, “it's alright.”

Cadence blinked in surprise and shook off the memory. She let out a curse, unable to understand why she kept getting overcome with it. This was meant to have been her distraction, her freedom from despair so why in the hell hadn't it worked? Why were her horrors already rushing to consume her?

The young woman realised as good as the sex had been she still felt an unpleasant hollowness. She sat up and smiled at John, determined to force back her moodiness.

“That was good.”

John nodded. His chest was moving rapidly as he swallowed down his pants and tried to relax his elevated heart rate. Good was a little disheartening to hear but he knew Cadence well enough to know she wasn't one to pander to his ego just for the sake of it.

John reached out to stroke her hair. “You can stay the night you know,” he addressed her gently, “you don't have to be alone.”

Cadence tensed at his words and her grey-blue gaze filled with grief. She was always alone, Robbie had been taken from her, Benjamin had been a lie and John had never been hers to begin with. She knew John meant his words as a kind offer but she found them cruel.

“It's alright,” she murmured, “it's...safer if I go.”

“Cady-”

John tensed this time as Cadence pressed a single finger against his mouth, silencing whatever protest or offer he was ready to make.

“It really was good Mr Vice President,” she said sincerely with a small smile, “but it is better if I go.”

John wondered at her sudden desire to leave. He considered reminding her that she had stayed over before but recalled that she had been too inebriated to argue against staying then plus it was an unpleasant memory to conjure.

She moved her finger slowly down his mouth before leaning up and forward to kiss it again.

John reciprocated, light this time as he savoured her warm lips against his.

Cadence drew back and began to reach slowly for her clothes.

John pushed down his askew hair and fixed his zip as he watched her dress.

“Cady do you want to talk about today?” he queried calmly. “That is, whatever it is that's been getting at you?”

Cadence shook her head. “No sir, that defeats the purpose of trying to forget it,” she retorted sardonically with another biting smile. She gave him another glance of gratitude. “Thank you though,” she added with a little more warmth to her voice.

Once dressed, Cadence dismissed John's offer for one of his team to take her home. Instead she called the number Mike had pressed upon her. Figuring it was an office number, she was a little surprised when Mike picked up after three rings.

The agent sounded alert and wasn't bothered at her request for a lift, assuring her that he would be there in about twenty minutes.

Cadence looked about the study for a clock as she ended the call. It was almost one in the morning, she had been here for hours.

Cadence sat with John in an odd semi-silence for the next twenty minutes with only the crackle of the fire to break it up. She realised as she stared over at John how futile it all was. John was never going to leave Suzanne for her and the thing was that even though Cadence had never expected him to or asked him to that knowledge still hurt because she loved him. Cadence hadn't meant to love him and more often than not she didn't want to but there it was, a complicated, bitter, destructive love for a married man.

Cadence realised something else as well, that even though she told herself she didn't want a relationship after her difficulties with Robbie, Benjamin and John, the truth was she did. She needed something that wasn't secretive and poisonous. Yet she still wanted John, as she studied him there was an urge to take his clothes off and do it all over again. Regrets yes but a lesson learned? No.

Cadence knew she was her own worst enemy, eternally at war with herself and never seeming to win the war, even just for a second.

Cadence was relieved when a Secret Service agent knocked the door politely to inform them that a car was outside for Miss McGarry. She knew it was better she went home even if home was alone.

\---

It had been two weeks since Cadence and John had rekindled their affair although nothing had happened between them since that night in the study. During the past two weeks the Eisenhower team had found themselves preoccupied with Senator Whyte's increasing hostile moves in the Senate as well as several ceremonial duties that Jed had sent John's way. If anyone noticed the complicated hum of heated attraction between Cadence and John they weren't commenting on it.

Today Cadence was paying a quick visit to the White House to wish Zoey luck. The President's party were heading to Rosslyn, Virginia today where the President would be giving a live meeting in the town hall. Zoey was going too, eager to support her father.

The West Wing was buzzing with energy as the staff bustled back and forth as they prepared for their journey to Rosslyn.

Cadence bypassed most of the busy workers with a brief hello as she searched for Charlie, knowing Zoey wouldn't be far from him.

The Public Relations Deputy was a little startled when Josh suddenly veered in her direction as he spied her. He blocked her pathway with folded arms and a frown.

“May I help you?” Cadence queried with a hint of mockery as she folded her arms in a mimic of his stance and gave him a curious stare.

Josh placed his hands down to rest assertively on his hips.

“I thought you liked Tom,” he said accusingly.

Cadence was baffled as she stared back at him. “Tom?” she echoed. “Hey Josh you're still on Democratic grounds here, sure you can call him that?”

Cadence was surprised by the faint pink that tinted the Deputy Chief of Staff's cheeks briefly before he scowled back at her as disapproval gave way to anger.

“I tried to help you,” he snapped as he pointed at her, “but you have to be you, hostile,” he sneered, “and you blow him off.”

Cadence let out a snort as she tried and failed to subdue a snicker.

“Josh what the hell?” she demanded. “Why do you even care?”

Josh's dark gaze filled with annoyance at her dismissive nature. He wondered himself why he cared. His anger was fresh as he had seen the congressman briefly this morning. They had had a recap meeting to discuss the environmental policy they were now working on together. Tom had asked innocently if Cadence was going to join any of their meetings as she had been a part of the policy getting agreed. Josh had shook his head with a mocking grin and said that thankfully VP staff were bound to the Eisenhower. When Tom had given a look of dismay Josh had realised things mustn't have worked out between the pair. He had felt relief at first before pity for Tom had annoyingly crept in.

Josh waved his hand out dismissively. “You know what I don't, I just don't like being a pawn in your game of jerking people about.”

Cadence rolled her eyes at this as her anger crept onto her face, tugging her mouth into a scowl. She realised with frustration that most of her anger was for herself. Tom had given her his number and left it for her to call but she hadn't. Tom deserved better than someone who had had a one night stand with the Vice President.

“It's not like that,” Cadence grumbled. “I like Tom but-”

“But what?” Josh snapped childishly. He was astonished at his tone and realised he was getting far too personal over this matter.

“But Tom deserves better,” she admitted with a shrug. “Now, do you think you could let me past or should we go on _Jerry Springer_ and really clear the air?” she snapped sarcastically. “You, me and Tom, they can call the segment 'My Boss' Daughter Won't Date My Secret Republican Friend'.”

“He's not my friend,” Josh protested quickly as he glanced about the corridor, fearful that someone might be listening into their odd argument.

“Then why the hell do you care so much?” Cadence demanded as she gave him a look of exasperation. “Come on Josh, don't you have something a little more important to be dealing with than my dating life?”

“Yes actually,” he snapped heatedly with another glower.

Cadence shook her head at him angrily. “Then go deal with it,” she snapped. “You know you really are an asshole sometimes,” she grumbled.

Josh turned about the corridor wildly, annoyed at himself for once again letting Cadence get under his skin except he realised with a sudden jolt of surprise that maybe it wasn't just Cadence this time.

“Donna!” he yelled for his assistant, suddenly desperate for the distraction of the blonde.

He paced off calling for his assistant leaving Cadence to resume her travels.

It didn't take long for Cadence to find Charlie and Zoey secreted away in a slightly quieter office. The giveaway was Gina standing at the doorway looking appropriately serious. The Secret Service agent gave Cadence a glance of barely concealed disapproval before resuming her wary stare ahead.

“Hi Gina,” Cadence greeted politely as she stepped up to the doorway.

Cadence glanced to the frosted glass of the door before giving a knock, wary of what she might be intruding upon.

She heard some partially muted yelling before a slightly aggrieved looking Charlie opened the door.

“Morning Charlie,” Cadence greeted brightly.

“Morning,” Charlie replied with a smile.

Although Charlie's smile was sincere it didn't quite reach his eyes and Cadence swiftly became aware of the tension in the room.

Zoey was standing in the middle of the room trying to banish the frustration from her face as she turned to face Cadence with joy.

“Cady Cat,” Zoey called happily as she came to stand beside Charlie in the doorway.

“Am I interrupting something?” Cadence pried. “I just wanted to say goodbye and wish you luck for today B.B,” she confessed.

Zoey's smile widened at Cadence's words. She shook her head and took a step back. “No, of course not,” she insisted. “Come in, it's been ages since I've seen you.”

“Well I've been working and you have been busy with college,” Cadence reminded her.

Charlie stepped back and welcomed Cadence into the office space. He closed the door and looked to Cadence imploringly, hoping he might be able to find an ally in her today.

Cadence felt Charlie's intense stare and gave him a questioning glance in answer. She could still feel the tension in the room despite Zoey's smile.

“Guys, what's happened?” Cadence demanded.

“Threats,” Charlie confessed bluntly in his usual pragmatic manner. “To Zoey for being seen with me, which is why it is better if I don't go today.”

Zoey placed her hands on her hips and gave Charlie a cross stare.

“Nonsense!” the youngest Bartlet snapped. “You just don't want to go because you're struggling to get dad's attention today because you're embarrassed to share your material with him but it's good Charlie.”

“What kind of threats?” Cadence demanded as she fixed a concerned stare on Zoey.

“The usual,” Zoey snapped. “It's nothing new Cady, the same crap we've been getting since Charlie and I started dating.”

“Zoey you need to take this seriously,” Charlie berated her.

“I am,” Zoey protested as she gave him another heated stare, “but I won't let my life be dictated by it. Are you saying we should give these people what they want and not date?”

“No,” Charlie argued as he raised his left hand against his temple before lowering it again, “that's not what I'm saying at all. Zoey please,” he pleaded with her as he gestured the hand out to her, “I just think for today it's better if I don't go.”

“You're my boyfriend Charlie,” Zoey protested, “I need your support and I want to be seen with you.”

Charlie gave Cadence another pleading stare.

“Charlie I think Zoey's right,” Cadence admitted, “you shouldn't let these people dictate your life but,” she added sternly with a glance at Zoey, “you do need to take some serious precautions. Zoey, you are the President's daughter, threats to you shouldn't be dismissed. I know you've Gina but I take it the President and the Secret Service are aware of these threats?”

“Of course,” Charlie answered, unable to conceal his dismay at Cadence's response, “but I still don't think-”

“Charlie give it up,” Zoey interrupted him, “you're coming, alright? And I'm going to tell dad about your idea, which I think is your real concern here.”

“Idea?” Cadence quipped.

Zoey nodded enthusiastically with a smile, happier to be onto a new topic. “Yes, Charlie has some material that will be good for dad to use at the meeting tonight but Charlie has no faith in himself and hasn't been able to give it to dad yet, which is why I'm going to tell him.”

“Zoey now wait a minute,” Charlie began another protest.

Cadence smiled and shook her head. “Young love,” she teased, “you two are cute even when you're bickering.”

Cadence glanced at her watch, ignoring the gaze of displeasure Zoey gave her at the teasing.

“Well B.B I've a lot of work to do yet so we'll keep this brief.”

Cadence gave Zoey a grin before stepping forward and clapping her hands on her shoulders. “Be good, stick close to Gina, have fun and don't let your dad embarrass you too much,” she concluded.

Zoey, pouting at the lecture, rolled her eyes at the conclusion before giving Cadence a smile. “It'll be fine,” she insisted. She glanced from Cadence to Charlie with scorn. “You two are very dramatic,” she scolded them.

Cadence pressed a hand against her chest theatrically. “Zoey how you wound me,” she lamented sardonically. “Anyway, I'd better go say hi to dad before I leave. He always gets mad if I don't say hello when I'm here.”

“Why is it you're here more than anyone else from the Eisenhower team?” Charlie queried. Feeling Zoey's scolding look he added hastily, “I mean that as a genuine question.”

Cadence gave him a smile to show she wasn't offended by it. “Team building Charlie, I'm a big believer in it.”

Cadence opened the office door and headed back out to the West Wing. She gave Gina a farewell that wasn't reciprocated before heading for her father's office. It was odd, even though her spirits had lifted a little, in part due to the better weather, she had a sense of unease today that she couldn't quite place. She figured it was maybe just because everyone here was a little more wired than usual as they scrambled to get everything ready before they left.

When she reached her father cadence felt a tad more at ease as he greeted her with a warm smile.

Leo was the calm in the storm of the West Wing today, probably because he didn't have to go on the trip. He waved Cadence into his office happily before wrapping up his phone call with the ambassador of France.

“Morning Cady,” he greeted chirpily, “how are you?”

“Fine dad,” Cadence assured.

It was the age old answer, sometimes it rang true and sometimes it didn't. Today Leo figured it was the former, Cadence's stare seemed bright and her smile was sincere. He was relieved to see it.

“Good,” he said sincerely.

“I just wanted to say hi while I was here,” she explained.

Leo nodded and glanced at the clock on his wall. “Well it's good timing, we can go for breakfast,” he offered happily.

Leo stood up from his desk and reached back for the navy blazer resting there before Cadence could consider a rejection.

Cadence smiled. “Sure dad.”

Leo gave her a happy smile in answer. “You wanna pay this time?” he queried teasingly. “I know a great place.”

“If it's a place you know, it'll cost more than the entire building I live in,” she retorted. “If I pay, I pick.”

“Well I don't fancy stale bagels and cheese this morning so I guess I'm buying,” Leo answered.


	32. Isolation

The world was upside down. Suddenly John had everything he wanted and he hated it. He was the acting President, well technically, the initial matter of unsigned paperwork was still hush hush but to the press and public John Hoynes was in charge. The price for it however was one John did not want to pay.

The first sign of something wrong had been when the Secret Service had suddenly descended upon the Vice President as he been making a light hearted commentary about a sports team to a few members of the public. The sight of so many agents charging at him had caused John to fill with a rush of alarm. The first thought had been 'what have I done', 'what's happened' came after. He had been bundled away in a rush of identically dressed men and down to the war room for sanctuary and an update from the grim faced Leo.

There had been several shootings in Rosslyn, the President had been one of the casualties and was in hospital. Everything else was unclear.

That had been three days ago but things still weren't much clearer for John. He was exhausted, he had hardly slept and the days were starting to merge. There were so many Secret Service agents in the Eisenhower John was starting to feel suffocated. Between them and Suzanne, John couldn't get a moment of peace. Of course Suzanne had come, rushing to ensure she didn't miss her chance to take the stage as the acting leader's wife. Except John still wasn't President, not even acting, that pesky paperwork notion had been fixed but John wasn't taking the title, he couldn't, not this way. As he had informed the public yesterday with a reassuring smile he was just carrying out yet another of the Vice President's duties- taking over from the President should the time call for it.

The President was going to be fine, that relieving news had come late last night, he was grumpy and sore but the surgery had been a success. He'd need rest of course, the man had been shot and more than that, he had never been completely healthy to begin with. That was a dark secret John had pondered several times since news of the shooting, had the doctors been informed of Jed's M.S? John figured they must have and since nothing had leaked to the press he was guessing the surgeon was yet another name to add to the growing list of those who knew of the President's vulnerability. Interestingly, as far as John could tell, none of Jed's trusted key staff knew about it save Leo and he wondered what the reaction would be the day that news came.

The President's team were all back in the White House fulfilling their duties save one. Another casualty of the shootings, his fate reminded murky. Josh Lyman had taken a bullet to the chest and had lost three pints of blood, he had gone into shock and went through hours of emergency surgery and a rushed blood donation before he had been left stable but critical. He still wasn't conscious and the atmosphere in the White House reflected it- the air was heavy with fear and uncertainty.

The motive for the shootings was racism, the shooters had been caught and confessed, they were white suprematists targetting Charlie Young for daring to date Zoey Bartlet. John couldn't believe it, no one could. The Secret Service had been aware of threats made but no one had realised how vulnerable they had been. The worst of it was that the shooters hadn't even been intelligent would be terrorists, no, they had been rage-blinded citizens with guns who had saw an opportunity and took it. Shooting the President should never have been as easy as this.

Now the world was suddenly ten times scarier than it had been. The increased presence of the Secret Service and the army around Washington D.C was obvious. They were divided between the President who would be returning to the fortress that was the White House today, and the ruling Vice President.

John didn't think he was a target, not when the shooters had been caught, they had acted alone, there was no terrorist cell and their motivation didn't spread to John. Except there was still a belief that Colombian rebels were unhappy with Cadence McGarry but also with John for openly showing his support for the Colombian President. That was a mess John had forgotten in the initial chaos of the shootings until Ron had reminded him of it.

The Secret Service head admitted there were only whiffs of it and nothing concrete. Certainly, Agent Casper had reported, there was no suggestion of a threat to Cadence. Of course with Cadence refusing to reveal what had happened during her missing hours in Colombia no one could be certain what threat from there might still exist. Right now John's status had elevated and they couldn't take a chance. Against John's desires, Cadence was out in the cold. Right when John needed a good Public Relations staffer the most, the Secret Service wanted her safe in the shadows.

Leo had agreed. He saw the situation through a father's eyes and his fear was all the worse because Josh, who consciously or unconsciously he viewed as a son, had been seriously injured and suddenly everyone in Leo's life seemed vulnerable.

John hadn't argued over it too hard. Things had become complicated with Cadence and he didn't need that distraction presently. How could he attempt to lead the country if he was smelling her perfume and thinking of her? How could he conceal his desires from Suzanne if Cadence was always there? John feared his wife might notice if he let a look linger too long on Cadence and now sure as hell wasn't the time for that kind of scandal. The Secret Service had given him an easy out from his predicament and he taken it with only a vague show of protest.

The problem, and what made John feel most guilty, was that he hadn't told Cadence. The Secret Service had wanted them apart ASAP, just while John was so prominently in the public eye and while there might be a suggestion that the White House was open to attack. If some uneducated gun nuts had been able to strike such a terrible blow upon the President himself then why not the better organised rebels of Colombia upon the Vice President? John understood the logic but he didn't like it. Worse was the reassurance that the C.I.A were doing everything in their power to keep on top of potential foreign threats, including rogues in Colombia. That promise was worthless to John, hell Wolfe was still the Director, obviously he had too many secrets on top officials.

Leo had told Cadence in the end and ushered her away from the Eisenhower. Temporarily everyone insisted. John's staff were told she was on leave, probably accurate enough given she had continued to be on edge and John couldn't imagine this latest news had helped her psyche much. The problem was that John could only imagine, there was no way for him to confirm how she was coping.

It was half five in the morning. The sun was limping up slowly over the horizon promising a dreary grey day. John was passed the point of exhaustion and heading for delirium, he had tried sleeping since one this morning. Hell he'd even opted for sex with Suzanne in an attempt to tire himself out but it had only worked that way for her.

John rose quietly and headed through to the bathroom. He reached for the crystal low ball glass sitting there and then for the small bottle of vodka nestling in the medicine cupboard since last night. He didn't even think about it, he just poured a shot and downed it. He wasn't getting through this day without it. He knew a cupful of coffee would mask the scent and banish the stupor that came with it, mixing the edge he craved from it with the rush of caffeine, which would either get him through the day or give him a heart attack.

–

C.J watched John Hoynes as he delivered another speech to the waiting press pool. She stood at the side of the room with Toby, taut and serious faced but a little more together than she had been three days ago. It had been insulting to hear the critiques of her state when she had delivered the news of the shootings. C.J had been there when it had happened, she had felt it all first hand and going from there to the White House so suddenly to talk about it in what felt like mere minutes after had been a surreal insanity she had not been prepared for. How could anyone prepare for that? She had been preoccupied yes, of course she had, wondering and worrying about the President and Josh and fixating over trying to find out who had pushed her down when the shooting had started and saved her in one quick, heroic gesture when she had stood frozen as an easy target.

C.J's rage had simmered now. She knew, unlike the still seething Toby, that there was no point in holding onto the rage. It was done. The President was going to live and the shooters had been arrested. Josh's life was in the hands of medics and God, and hatred wasn't going to help him one way or the other.

“He's not my President,” Toby grumbled quietly as he watched John with a critical gaze.

“He's not trying to be,” C.J remarked with a hint of sympathy.

C.J understood that John wasn't making an attempt to usurper the throne despite now having the chance, he was just trying to keep things going. John, like everyone else in the White House, wanted the President to have the time he needed to rest and recover.

“Hmm defending a man we usually hate,” Toby grumbled, “are you maybe still in shock?”

C.J gave a small smile despite herself and dipped her head slightly. She wasn't going to tell him but she was grateful to Toby for finding a way to make her smile in all this madness whether he had meant to or not.

The President had returned to the White House this morning at 10:05 with the First Lady acting as his shadow, his fierce, commanding shadow who made it clear that she would devour him if he tried to resist her orders. Abbey Bartlet had gone through many modes in a short space of time- worried wife, consoling mother, confident First Lady, and now she was in doctor mode, demonstrating the role she had practised before her husband had become one of the world's most powerful people.

“Mr Vice President, what about Josh Lyman? Any update there?” This query came from a female reporter.

C.J watched in surprise as for a moment John lost some of his composure and his blue stare instantly filled with grief. She knew Josh had been on John's team but she didn't think things had ended amicably with Josh jumping ship and whilst John certainly wasn't heartless C.J hadn't expected to see him so openly distraught for the man.

John frowned and looked down at the podium as he considered his answer.

C.J and Toby waited for it with everyone else, both knowing there wasn't much to say. Sam and Donna were at the hospital at the moment but so far there was no change.

John looked up again with a serious stare. “Josh Lyman remains critical,” he informed them sombrely. “As part of our White House family our thoughts are always with him and we remain hopeful for his recovery.”

“White House Family,” Toby grumbled as he watched John with distaste and frowned. “He's getting too cosy.”

C.J gave another small smile at Toby's disdain and rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “Toby he's not the enemy,” she reminded him.

\---

Cadence was watching John's speech when her phone rang. She still had her long curtains drawn and the only light in the room came from the television. She instinctively reached out from underneath her swan blanket to fumble for the phone on the end table beside her couch.

“Hello?” Cadence queried calmly.

“Hey Cady,” Zoey Bartlet's quiet voice answered.

“Zoey? Hey, how are you?” Cadence blurted out.

Cadence hadn't spoken to Zoey since she had left for Rosslyn. She had gotten her updates regarding Zoey from her father and knew, just like the public, that the attack had been one directed at Charlie rather than the President.

“I'm at the White House,” Zoey confessed, her voice still quiet and full of woe. “Dad came back this morning. Could you come visit?” she asked hopefully.

Cadence winced as she leaned back in the couch and pushed her free hand up into her brow. “Sorry Zoey,” she retorted sincerely, “but I have to stay away for a while.”

“What?” Zoey quipped in shock. “Why? I really want to talk to you, I thought you'd call Cady,” she admitted.

Cadence frowned as she filled with guilt. “Zoey your dad was shot, I knew you would be at the hospital and with your mom. I just...” Cadence swallowed hard before she continued. “Zoey I told you to go,” she reminded her. “It was such bad advice, I'm so sorry.”

“What? Cady is that why you haven't been here?” Zoey demanded. “I don't blame you! I had to go, for dad and I wanted to go, these people have no right, God it's why dad and Josh got hurt though because Charlie and I were there,” her voice grew quieter as grief filled it.

“No, Zoey, it's their fault,” Cadence corrected sternly, “only the shooters are to blame for this mess.”

“Well then,” Zoey retorted as her own voice took on some authority, “you can't blame yourself for me going, can you?”

Cadence sighed and smiled ruefully as she realised she helped Zoey make her argument. “I suppose not Zoey but I've been thinking about it since you all got hurt. I've been asking dad about all of you every day.”

“Well I'm here, come see me in person,” Zoey pleaded. “I want to talk to someone, Charlie's completely in shock, mom is running after dad and he just keeps brushing things aside. I just need to talk,” she murmured as her quiet woe returned to her voice.

“I understand,” Cadence sympathised, “but you remember Colombia B.B, well there's a slight fear some rebels there might think we're ripe for attacking because of this so it's better if I'm not seen publicly for a bit, it'll only antagonise them maybe,” she murmured with uncertainty.

Cadence glanced over to her closed front door. She was trusting that one of Agent Casper's appointed people was standing on the other side of it even though she couldn't see or hear them. The thought that if they were taken down the only thing standing between Cadence and a threat was such a simple door made her feel uneasy.

“It's just,” Cadence continued, “now John, that is the Vice President, is acting up, well he annoyed a few people in Colombia too by being seen with their President and...well, siding with me,” she concluded awkwardly. “So I have to stay away.”

Cadence had been wondering about John as much as she had wondered and worried about the President, Zoey and Josh. John had effectively banished her from the West Wing without a word, it had all come from Leo, for her own safety and for John's too. Cadence understood but it still hurt that John hadn't spoken to her directly about it or even reached out to see how she was.

“Can I come to you?” Zoey piped up.

“Sorry B.B but you know that's not a good idea, then you're put at risk,” Cadence retorted.

Cadence filled with fresh guilt, she knew Zoey was desperate for someone to talk to but she also knew she wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to the youngest Bartlet daughter because Cadence had permitted her to visit. The racists claimed to have been acting alone but who could know for sure? What if people were still targeting Zoey and/or Charlie after having missed them both?

“We might only be reaching the eye of the storm,” Cadence murmured softly, “but not the end of it. I need to be sure there's no major danger for you.”

“But there's always danger!” Zoey protested angrily.

“I know,” Cadence retorted calmly, “but the level seems a little high lately. Look, I'm glad you and Charlie didn't get hurt and I'm happy to hear from you, I really am but let's just talk on the phone for now, okay? It's still something B.B,” she added with a hopeful voice.

“Cady you really haven't been around much,” Zoey snapped. “First you vanished after the campaign, I mean my dad became President, I needed someone to talk to then, someone who would have some inkling about it and who was close to me, that was you! Your father was part of it, you'd be able to access the White House with me, you'd understand the pressure and the suffocation I feel being guarded and followed and threatened! Except you weren't there, you just up and ran off leaving everyone else with it like you always do! Now everything's gone to hell, Charlie was targeted, my dad was shot and you're hiding again!”

Cadence winced as she heard the loud bang that came before silence indicating that Zoey had slammed her phone receiver down.

Cadence leaned back in the couch and pushed her hand up through her hair wearily.

“Shit,” she cursed quietly.

Cadence hung up her receiver and looked back to the television. The speech was done, John and the view of the White House's press room were gone and now the news was rolling. There were some mugshots of the shooters as the reporter continued to discuss the story.

Cadence leaned forward for the remote and turned the television off. She frowned at the sudden silence she was left with. Now she didn't know what to do. Without her job her time was empty. She hadn't made any friends in D.C and when she bothered to socialise it was with work colleagues. All of whom she was avoiding for their safety. She wondered what story they had been fed about her this time. It made her bitter as she considered how she had only just started to win back most of them after the scandal of Colombia. Cadence figured she probably deserved to be isolated from them given she had committed the immortal sin of screwing the boss.

Cadence's thoughts turned to Josh Lyman. The news had given her no new information regarding his state. She knew from her father that he was critical but stable, out of surgery but yet to awake. She felt horrible as she thought about her last words to him. She had called him an asshole and scorned him for interfering in her love life when she was the one who had consented to him effectively setting her up on a date in the first place. She knew she owed him an apology, Congressman Landis too she realised, she hadn't called him, which had been cruel and confusing given how well their dinner date had gone.

Cadence glanced up at her clock. It was just after eleven. She could try and call Zoey back but she knew the youngest Bartlet needed time to cool off and Cadence had no defence for her accusations anyway. Zoey was right, Cadence always did run from the painful times, Robbie's murder had led to a suicide attempt and a stint in a mental hospital, her miscarriage during John's campaign had led to a trip to Colombia and now here she was away from the trouble again but this time it was ironically against her will. This time Cadence wanted to be standing alongside John and helping him through a tough and challenging period but she couldn't because she would be a risk and a distraction. She wanted to be with Zoey too after hearing the teenager's voice falter with upset but Cadence couldn't forget the cold stares Gina had given her, silently accusing her of being a risk to the Bartlet daughter and that had been before the shootings.

Cadence picked up the phone to dial Mallory but remembering that her sister would be at work in the classroom. She sighed as she pondered who else she could get to go to Zoey in her stead, if she contacted her father or the First Lady that would only add to Zoey's rage. She had no idea where Zoey's sisters where at the moment but figured they had to be near after what had happened with their father. She realised she had no to ring at the moment to console Zoey and figured she would just have to ring herself in an hour or so and hope for mercy.


	33. Pawns

John Hoynes looked across the room to the President warily knowing what he had been called here for. He had gotten the summons yesterday in the early evening and despite not being told the topic John knew what it would be.

“John the business of oil has come up,” Jed remarked, getting straight to the point. His manner was calm but stern as he faced his Vice with a cool calm and a glint in his blue eyes that suggested he would turn hostile if John expressed disagreement.

Jed looked a little more tired than usual and had opted to sit almost immediately after John had entered the Oval Office. He was leaned back into his chair, rigid in pain with a few extra wrinkles at his brow showing the fresh stress he had gained from Rosslyn.

The shootings might be behind them but the damage remained. Gun rights had been thrust back into the public eye much to both John and Jed's chagrin. C.J had glossed over it briefly after the shootings by advising the country of how many thousands of crimes had happened that same night at gunpoint and how, despite having men armed with guns to protect him, the President had still been shot thus proving that having a gun did not necessarily prevent gun crime. John had tactfully avoided the issue during his stint, distracted with a potential war instead.

“It's been brought up,” John corrected, “by Senator Whyte.” John said the name calmly but it was hard to keep the annoyance from his voice.

John dug his hands into the arms of the striped, satin sheen chair he occupied and leaned forward slightly in his seat creasing his pale grey jacket. “Sir I can't negotiate with him,” he said apologetically. There was a slight plead in his blue stare.

Jed's mouth curled into a bitter smile as he leaned forward as well although the gesture cost him as his chest throbbed in pain. “Publicly you get along very well,” Jed retorted with a mocking glint in his own blue gaze.

John frowned at the jibe. He remembered the poisonous handshake Senator Whyte had gifted him with in Texas, purposely stretching across the President to deliver it so the snub was clear and public.

“Sir, you know he did that to cause tension,” John reminded the President, “I'm the one who mentioned his shares.”

Jed nodded agreeably. “And now you have to be the one to play ball with him. Our money is in coal, no one likes it but it's necessary but it's also necessary for the taxes on fossil fuels to go up.”

“The usage of them or the harnessing of them?” John demanded. “Is the companies who pay the tax or the people?”

Jed was frowning now too. His blue gaze turned hostile as he felt his anger budding for his ever volatile Vice. “Both,” he snapped.

“Mr. President-” John began.

“Yes,” Jed interrupted crossly, “I am the President and yet you question my every decision like we're on equal standing.”

John looked surprised at this comment and his vibrant blue stare blazed with anger. “I never tried to take it from you,” he protested. “Not that I could,” he added accusingly with a careless wave of his right hand, “because you didn't bother to sign the paperwork!”

Jed bristled at this accusation as his fingertips sank into the edges of the arms of his seat. He wanted to jump up and stare John down but he knew the ache of his bullet wound wouldn't be worth the theatrics.

“I'm sorry I was preoccupied with bleeding out on an operating table and unable to take up a pen!” Jed retorted childishly.

John pointed across the room to the President accusingly. “It's why you took me on damn it! Remember, in case you die,” he added with a sneer.

Jed stiffened at this reminder, it had seemed a casual scribble on a post it but the importance of it couldn't be ignored. He nodded again as he tried to calm his temper.

“It's hard to face one's mortality,” the President remarked quietly as some of the rage faded from his stare. “Certainly I've done it many days with the MS but it has become so familiar to me I don't really consider it a threat anymore but getting shot, ooh boy, well now, that will make you think of the afterlife and God.”

John nodded sympathetically although the anger remained in his stare.

“John I signed the paperwork as soon as I was able,” Jed reminded him, “and you did do a good job.”

Jed sighed and touched a hand to his brow as he saw John bristle at his words and knew they had been taken for mockery when for once Jed was trying to be sincere.

“Damn it John,” Jed cursed him out quietly, “I know it's not easy being my Vice President but the hell if you make it easy being your President.”

John gave a faint flicker of a smile at this but his anger still lingered. He knew he had done a good job when he had been thrust into the hot seat without warning but he didn't think it had been all that well acknowledged, people tried to spread out the praise amongst Leo and the loyal White House staffers, adamant that they had shouldered the bulk of the burden whilst John had been little more than a figurehead for the brief time it had been required. John found it hard to resist the urge to snap that the National Security Advisor had wanted him plunging into a war and it was at his word, not Leo's that war had been avoided. Sure Leo had advised John but the point was he had listened to the options, balanced them and made the decision.

“John I need the Republicans on board with this tax increase, it's that or decrease fossil production in favour of greener fuels and as nice as that sounds on paper, it costs jobs,” Jed addressed him sternly.

John nodded obligingly, he knew the threat wasn't Jed's really, it was simply the way the world worked, fossil fuels might be considered atrocious for the world but the truth was so many, many households still got their power from them meaning so many had their jobs tied into them.

“Unfortunately, Senator Whyte is the most vocal on this,” Jed continued calmly, “so it has to be him you speak with.”

“And if he makes me grovel sir?” John queried bitterly.

“Then you grovel,” John answered flatly. “It's not weak if you do it for the right reasons.”

John sighed heavily and rose from the chair. “It is weak sir,” he retorted in a quiet voice that betrayed his defeat.

Jed stood too in a slow, laboured movement. “John, you will get your chance,” he assured, “and you will do great things when you do.” He took a step towards the man and gave him a serious stare. “You did do a great job while I was in hospital and it's why I picked you as my running mate because I wouldn't hand the reins of this country over to anyone else. It's you John, you who I want if something does happen to me and you who I would hope gets the nomination after me.”

“Thank you sir,” John retorted neutrally.

It was hard for John to shift his bitterness to one side and show some gratitude. As far as he was concerned all he seemed to do was wait and his brief stint in power had been a cruel tease. As Suzanne had informed him coldly the other day he was back to being the lackey.

John cocked his head slightly to give Jed a questioning look. “Is there anything else sir?”

Jed gazed him at him calmly, studying his Vice with curiosity as he considered his response. “Cady will be seeing Leo and I in oh,” Jed paused and glanced at his watch, “an hour. We have some news for her and I think it might be best if you hear it too.”

John showed surprise at the mention of his PR's name. Cadence hadn't mentioned anything to him about it. “News sir?” John made it a query.

Jed nodded stiffly as his mouth thinned in a serious line. The stress was back in his eyes as he gazed back at John. “I'd rather not get into it until she's here, it wouldn't be fair.”

John sighed and rubbed at his dark hair, mussing up the combed back style. “Is she in trouble?” he demanded bluntly.

“No John, just come back in an hour,” Jed answered with a cool calm.

John gave a dismissive nod before he headed for the doors and stepped into Mrs. Landingham's domain with a sense of relief. Ever since Jed had returned to power John had felt displaced when he was in the White House and was always eager to return to the Eisenhower where the chain of command was a little clearer for him. Here people just wanted to get back to normal and forget that for a brief moment he had been in charge and capable of starting and averting wars.

John glanced at the clock on the wall, it was just after ten in the morning. Eager as he was to leave there was still one more visit he had to make and since he was due back in the Oval Office in an hour anyway he figured he may as well make the visit now.

John gave a polite nod of farewell to Mrs. Landingham before heading through to the West Wing with his familiar Secret Service agents at his back.

\---

Josh Lyman had been back to work for a week and thought he had seen all the overjoyed well wishers he was going to but now he was surprised by another.

Cadence McGarry arrived into his office sheepish and pale faced. She entered fidgeting with loose strands of her hair as she glanced over her shoulder a couple of times to the door before closing it behind her and banishing the hum of noise from the bull ring.

Cadence's exile had ended a few weeks ago with the President back in position and the Vice President back at the Eisenhower. To Cadence however she still felt like a pariah, Zoey Bartlet was still mad at her, John's team were also resenting her for her absence at a critical time and John was running hot and cold with her, at times treating her as a colleague he barely knew whilst at other times querying her about her welfare and giving her looks of concern as he told her seriously to let him know if things weren't alright. He had made no move on her however, not since he had acted up, then he had had Suzanne by his side like glue, ever determined to be captured at every opportunity as the acting leader's wife.

Josh glanced up from his desk at the woman in bewilderment. He had been determined for the past few days to put Rosslyn behind him and distract himself with his ever mounting work but it wasn't easy. This morning he had been using his office as a sanctuary from the looks of pity, concern and worry from West Wing well wishers.

The Deputy Chief of Staff sat in a slightly creased white shirt with a brown and grey striped tie that was half-hidden by the desk he was leaning over in an attempt to engross himself in the articles stacked there.

“Hi,” Josh greeted quietly.

“Hi,” Cadence retorted awkwardly. She stared down at him with an expression he couldn't quite decipher. “Josh I'm sorry.”

“Huh?” Josh's dark eyes widened in confusion. He was still trying work out if she had just decided to brazenly enter here or if Donna had given her the go ahead, probably thinking having a visitor would do him good.

“I'm sorry,” she repeated sincerely as her hands slipped down to fiddle with the ends of her black and grey striped scarf. She took a step closer and gazed down at him with a sad stare. “I called you an asshole,” she remarked bluntly, “and it was the last thing I said to you. It could have been the very last thing I said to you.”

Josh continued to look confused as he tried to think back to what Cadence was talking about. He wondered when he had last seen her. He was only just starting to grasp what day of the week it was after having spent so many blurred together staring at the same four hospital ward walls.

Josh leaned forward on his desk and pushed both his hands up into his brown curls. “Huh,” he repeated quietly as he pressed his fingers into his scalp. He could feel a headache budding at the edge, they came more frequently now when he tried to think back before Rosslyn because he just couldn't skip Rosslyn.

Josh tensed as he thought of red and blue flashing lights and he became annoyed with Cadence for making him think of the past. He rationalised with himself that she was here trying to make amends and made himself keep going back.

“Right,” Josh said as he gave a faint smile. “I was interfering with your dating life.”

Josh lowered his hands to his desk and glanced up at the young woman.

Cadence nodded. “Yeah but you didn't deserve to be called an asshole. You're right, I was unfair to Tom.” Cadence frowned. “I owe him an apology too but it's way too late for that. Anyway, I just, I know we bicker a lot and we both have our reasons but I still like you.”

Josh's smile wavered slightly. “Cady please stop with the apology, you didn't know I was going to get...shot,” he finished with a grimace. “And I was an asshole for interfering with you and Tom. I'm tired of people being weird around me because of what happened, don't you change as well, not because of that.”

Cadence raised her eyebrows slightly at the tacked on 'because of that' and wondered if Josh wanted her to change for other reasons. She thought about her suspicions that he knew about her and John's affair during the campaign but knew she'd never ask Josh for confirmation.

“I know how that is,” she murmured empathetically as she abandoned her scarf at last. “Everyone puts on the mittens when they deal with you.” She bowed her head and pushed back a stray strand of hair. “And you find ways to move around the issue and do everything you can not to confront it and people respect your space at first and they avoid it too,” she cracked a bitter smile, “hell Mallory spent a day telling me about one of her college classes after Robbie died and dad's run through the Watergate menu with me six times since I came back from Colombia.”

Josh's surprise returned to his brown gaze. He hadn't expected anyone to have some understanding of his feelings, he didn't even understand them right now. The fact that it was Cadence showing him empathy just made him uncomfortable and he knew he couldn't have a conversation about trauma and feelings with her.

“Tell you what,” Josh offered, “I get to keep calling you a demon and you can keep calling me an asshole, deal?”

Cadence gave a bitter chuckle at this. “Well if that's the best we can do,” she conceded reluctantly.

Josh shook his head dismissively as he tried to discard the confusion that continued to plague him. He turned his stare up to the clock above Cadence. “I hate to bring him up again but I'm actually meeting with Congressman Landis in about fifteen minutes.” Josh gave Cadence an apologetic smile. “We're still working on that environmental bill, Leo figured I'd be better on the lighter stuff this week,” he added with a forced jovial tone.

Cadence nodded back in understanding. “I got bounced for a while,” she confessed. “After you and the President got shot. John was acting up and they figured the rebels in Colombia might either think we were weak and strike or simply get pissed off seeing the Vice President and I on television.” She shrugged and folded her arms. “I think dad and John pushed for me to take a break instead of desk work because I've been...jumpy I suppose.”

Josh gaze been solemn as Cadence said John's name, Josh was certain she was normally more careful about being familiar about the Vice President. Even on the campaign, they had usually called John 'senator' or 'sir' it was usually only after a few drinks that anyone on the campaign party called him John and even then, as John was always sober and therefore not demonstrating the same loss of social protocol, the familiarity came rarely.

Cadence gave Josh a serious stare. “I guess what I'm trying to say is, prepare for that, for the stress to sneak up on you and be triggered by something and be grateful when you get the lighter stuff, it does help sometimes.” Her hands slackened to her sides as she thought of her own woes, brought up again when the Secret Service had talked about their fears of a Colombian rebel attack. Cadence thought of vengeful natives instead, outraged at her lies and unsatisfied that a scar was justice. She gave an uneasy frown. “Anyway,” she said quickly. “I'll leave you to it.”

Cadence turned for the door hastily and was surprised when she opened it up to the Vice President. She stared up to him with an expression of vulnerability as her pink lips parted slightly in small o of astonishment.

“I didn't know you were here,” John greeted her bluntly.

John was just as surprised as Cadence and a little annoyed that he knew nothing about what she was doing today. He didn't like it figuring it was how rumours could be started.

“Morning sir,” Cadence retorted politely.

John stepped back from the doorway to let her out and breathed in her jasmine and night orchid perfume as she passed him. It was one he had always favoured her wearing and now he wondered if she wore it because she liked it or because he had told her that.

“I believe you're meeting the President later,” John remarked almost accusingly.

Cadence glanced over her shoulder at John in shock at this remark and nodded.

“Yes sir,” she answered calmly. She wondered at John's tone and if he perhaps knew more about the meeting than she did. It was another worry to add to her pile today, the now constantly repeated question in her head of 'what have I done now?'

John nodded back. “He's extended the invite to me,” he advised. His blue gaze softened slightly at the unease on her face and he quipped, “do you have anywhere else to be before that?”

Cadence shook her head causing her dirty fair hair to sway lightly in all directions.

“Well, I'll see you in the Vice President's office then,” John instructed, “we can discuss P.R tactics for dealing with Senator Whyte.”

Cadence's eyes widened slightly as she gave John a questioning look. She couldn't tell if he was hinting at a passionate rendezvous or if he really did want to discuss Senator Whyte. Since she really didn't have anywhere else to go and she didn't want to chance an awkward encounter with the arriving Congressman Landis, Cadence figured it the V.P's office in the West Wing was as good a destination as any.

“I'll see you there sir,” she retorted quietly.

As Cadence departed, John entered Josh's office and closed the door behind him.

“Josh, how are you?” John queried with almost the same awkwardness Cadence had.

Josh stared up at his former boss calmly. John's delay with Cadence had given Josh a chance to compose himself for the man. With John, Josh's feelings were always mixed, at times the man infuriated him but at other times Josh had a deep respect for him, sometimes grudging but at other times awe-filled.

“I'm good,” Josh lied with a smile. The lie came easy because more often than not Josh believed it, unaware of how his bug-eyed expression and hesitant voice betrayed him.

John's stare turned sympathetic. “I was with the President and thought I would come and see you in person,” John explained. “It's been a while since we spoke and after everything that's happened I wanted you to know, directly from myself, that I was thinking of you and I am glad to see you recovered.”

John flashed a small smile down on Josh in an attempt to show the sincerity of his relief.

Josh was a little stunned by this revelation. He knew John wasn't hollow hearted and that he had always cared about Josh as part of his team and had been deeply hurt by his betrayal but he hadn't realised that John still cared, figuring he'd cut any emotional ties the moment Josh had jumped ship to the Bartlet campaign.

“Thank you sir,” Josh answered as he continued to gaze up at the man in a wide eyed puzzlement. “I...I'd like to talk more but I have an appointment soon,” he confessed with an apologetic flicker of a smile.

John looked a little surprised before he nodded. “Right, of course. Well, as I said, it's good to see you well again. That is, you are well aren't you?” he pried as his cerulean stare became serious and almost probing.

Josh frowned before he could help it. “Even though everyone keeps asking that, yes I am,” he insisted with irritation, “they wouldn't have discharged me otherwise.”

“No.” John's answer was quiet as he picked up on Josh's irate tone.

Josh took in John's slightly askew dark hair and the uneven hang of his tie. “Are you well sir?” The question slipped out before Josh could help it.

Josh wondered, as he always had, what had gone on with John and Cadence- before Colombia, in Colombia, and after Colombia. John had fought hard to keep Cadence on his team when the CIA's untrue revelations about her had come out, when Cadence had been banded a traitor and Josh had been keen for her to be burned, the Vice President had openly resisted despite how potentially damaging it could have been for him. Then in Colombia, when Cadence and John had gone to make amends, something had happened, everyone knew that much but the details were a forbidden blank and Josh didn't think John had been quite the same since.

John frowned too, angry that he obviously had some slight in his appearance he was unaware of to prompt the question from Josh and angry that Josh should think their relationship was still familiar enough for him to ask such an imposing question.

“I'm fine Josh,” John retorted calmly as he forced some charm to his expression and smiled again.

Josh didn't buy John's reassurances anymore than John bought his.

“Alright sir, well thanks for calling,” Josh said sincerely.

“I'll see you again Josh.”

John turned and exited out of the room, heading for his West Wing based office where he knew Cadence would be waiting. He nodded to West Wing staffers as he passed them but there was no smile or hint of charm, he was certain they all viewed him as the wannabe, hell maybe even the brief has be or the not good enough to be. He despised every corridor he paced up as he felt an outsider to everyone he passed. He despised the small office he was afforded too as it was only a reminder of how little he mattered in this building.

John found Cadence in the office, dutifully seated with a notepad and pen in her lap produced from her grey satchel. She had already scribbled a few notes and was beginning a sentence when John entered.

Cadence glanced up at the Vice President in a curious silence as he closed the door and drew the blinds, banishing his agents from sight.

John stepped in front of Cadence and reached down a hand to cup her face but she turned away from him.

“John you cast me aside,” she reminded him. “The moment you got into the White House, you took the first opportunity you could to get rid of me because I was a complication and it was easy.”

John frowned at her as he lowered his hand. “Cady that is not what happened. The Secret Service insisted, everyone was at risk and you,” he pointed at her accusingly with one finger, “have been so closed up about what happened in Colombia that no one knows what the danger from there might be to you and maybe me.”

Cadence turned an angry stare on him. “It just gave you the excuse you wanted,” she continued to berate him. “You couldn't run the risk, no, you had to look the part of doting husband and Suzanne was certainly happy to be the perfect wife this time while she had the White House to give her performance in,” she sneered.

“God damn it Cady!” John snapped. “You know I'm married, I've been married the entire time you've known me! I didn't cast you out, I sent you home for your own safety at the pressing of the Secret Service and your father and I'm sorry,” he added sardonically as he raised his hands to his hips, “that I had other things to concern myself with than your feelings. I had wars to avert, the potential death of the President, terrorists in our country and policies of the President's making that were not my convictions but his that I had a duty to try and enforce and uphold.”

“Spare me the political stance,” Cadence scorned as she abandoned the notepad to knot the ends of her scarf together. “You've been on and off me with ever since the shootings. It's like you've seen now that you really can get to the White House but you don't want the scandal of me blowing it all.”

John's mouth curdled slightly at her accusation. “Cady you certainly don't want the scandal either,” he reminded her angrily, “and if I didn't want you I'd fire you or accept one of your many resignations,” he replied sardonically with a wave of his right hand. “Haven't I just come in here and tried to have a moment with you? You came to me that night, remember? You came to the Eisenhower because you wanted to.”

“Because I was lonely John,” she snapped at him with a miserable look. She abandoned her scarf and hugged her torso lightly, wincing as she felt the ache of an ageing scar on her right side. “And I wanted you, I did and I do but you've avoided me since, we've both been back at the Eisenhower for weeks and you talk to me but you avoid me at the same time. You've seen what you can have John and I'm not in that vision.”

John frowned and shook his head angrily before he gestured down to her sharply with his right hand. “Don't do this Cady, I've told you I care about you, I've told you I can't lose you, hell I've risked humiliation to keep you happy over a damn raccoon, I've stood by you in scandal and I'm here now, aren't I?”

Cadence looked up at him with a forced calm, loathing how everything he said was true because she didn't think it was fair of him.

“John you're hot and cold with me,” she murmured softly, “and it's hard to keep up with that. I thought I didn't want to be with anyone, not after Robbie and Benny and...the miscarriage,” she added with a quiet woe. “And I've figured with all my shit, no one should be tied to this mess,” she continued with a small, biting smile and a show of dark humour, “but maybe I do want something. I just I don't think I deserve I suppose.”

John continued to frown moodily at her. “Cady, you've been jumpy since Colombia, I think something has triggered something in you and it's getting you upset and feeling guilty, you need to speak to someone about it,” he urged her. “As for you and me, it's complicated, it's always been but I have feelings for you,” he added as he gave her a serious stare, “you know that and my very brief moment as acting President does not change that.”

Cadence sighed and nodded as she placed her hands on her lap. The conversation had already drained her and she regretted starting it. It wasn't the time or place but she had to wonder when was the time and where was the place?

John's hand returned, this time to run lightly through her hair. Cadence allowed the gesture, closing her eyes as she allowed the gentle motion of his fingertips to soothe her.

\--

Cadence and John arrived to Mrs. Landingham's abode together. It drew a questioning gaze from Leo as he stood there with Charlie, ready to enter the Oval Office.

“Cady, Mr. Vice President,” he greeted them calmly.

John took note of Leo's sombre stare and knew that whatever news the President had it wasn't going to be good.

“Leo,” John retorted politely.

“Morning dad, morning Charlie,” Cadence greeted. She turned a smile upon the President's secretary. “Morning Mrs. Landingham.”

The older woman glanced up from the desk that was almost a permanent fixture for her and smiled. “Good morning,” she greeted chirpily. “You can all head in, he's waiting for you.”

Leo went first, holding the door open for his daughter as he did. Charlie waited outside, knowing he would be called when required.

Jed was sitting at his desk as they arrived and attempted to stand quickly. He winced as the gesture cost him and waved off Leo's look of concern.

Jed stepped round the desk so that he was in the centre of the room near the eagle's head. He gestured to the seats but Leo remained standing, taking a stance between Jed and Cadence as if unsure whose side he should be on.

John stood to the right of Cadence but took a few steps from her so they were standing separately rather than together. He studied Jed, trying to spy a hint of the news he had hinted at.

“Cadence would you like to sit?” Jed made it a suggestion but his gentle gaze for her tried to convey it as a preference.

Cadence, wary of why she had been summoned, shook her head. “No thanks sir,” she retorted calmly. She knew she hadn't made the news and she had only been back at work for a short while so she didn't think she could have done anything to warrant a scolding yet it seemed rare that she was ever called here for anything good.

Jed's dark blue gaze darted over to Leo as his mouth creased in concern. His stare returned to Cadence at once serious and yet sympathetic. Jed was angry at the timing of the news he had to deliver, wondering why bad things couldn't be a little more spaced out so one had the time to deal with them appropriately. Jed wondered why Rosslyn wasn't enough for the Lord and why the Almighty continued to test them.

“Cadence I have received news concerning Agent Sparks,” Jed addressed her calmly.

“Sir?” Cadence's eyes filled with hope as she wondered if at long last a date had been arranged for her to see the man.

The troubled agent had always been on Cadence's mind since Jed had first mentioned him to her. She had tried to push him back when her father had insisted sternly that badgering would not get her an audience with him and that he was unwell and she would simply have to wait for the appropriate time. Naturally, the potential threat of Colombian rebels had brought him back to the forefront of Cadence's thoughts.

Jed and Leo both filled with guilt at the hope budding in her stare.

Leo frowned and took a step towards her before he hesitated. “Cady, baby girl,” he began softly.

Cadence's grey-blue gaze darted over to her dad in a startled worry.

“Cadence,” Jed drew her attention back to him, he had received the news so he was determined to be the one to deliver it, “there is no easy way to tell you this so I just have to come out and say it. Agent Benjamin Sparks hung himself yesterday afternoon, he was pronounced dead in the early evening.”

Cadence stumbled back with a bewildered stare. “I...I told those lies,” she murmured with a shake of her head, “to keep us safe. I lied about innocent people to keep him safe. You said I would see him when he was well. You said that,” she accused.

“Cady,” Leo addressed her again as he took a step towards her.

John was silent as he watched her with worry. The shock was evident on his face, he had forgotten all about the half-crazed agent figuring that Jed was dealing with it. John had certainly never considered that this would happen.

Cadence shook her angrily. “All this death, all these lies, when does it stop?! Everyone just keeps getting hurt, the shootings are constant, no one's safe, everyone keeps bleeding,” she babbled as she raised her hands up as if to grasp her face before staring at her palms in bewilderment. “I stood and I lied about those people, I called them terrorists, why did Benny have to pay for that?” she quipped in disbelief as she felt her eyes burn with tears.

Without warning the young woman suddenly turned and bolted for the doors. She pushed one open so hard and fast Charlie couldn't dodge it and let out a cry of protest as the wood smacked hard against him.

Cadence stormed past him in a blur, shaking even as she ran, head bowed as tears started to bud in her eyes and blurred her vision.

Charlie was ready to yell after her about learning to open doors slowly as he rubbed at his nose but he was kept silent in surprise as Leo ran past him.

John watched her and Leo go in astonishment. John wanted to follow too but he didn't dare for fear of how Leo or the President might interpret it. He had seen Leo's questioning, almost accusing glance when he and Cadence had arrived unexpectedly together at the Oval Office. He knew he and Cadence had been getting careless before the shootings and he had to rein it back.

John turned a jaded stare on Jed who was stoic as he waved off a concerned Charlie.

“Sir, all due respect, but you could have done that better,” John admonished his superior.

\---

Cadence wasn't concentrating as she stepped up the corridor of the White House. She had stopped running when she had escaped the West Wing and had no idea if her father was still pursuing her or not. At at a walk she was almost invisible to the busy vetted visitors and White House workers. As she stepped into the main foyer only a tourist group took notice, glancing over out of hopeful curiosity.

Cadence's head was bowed as she stepped forward before halting suddenly as the news finally impacted her. It felt like a very real thud to her chest and it took what little energy she had left to make herself stand still and not let it knock her to the ground.

C.J, returning from a morning tea break that she had sneaked with Danny, spotted the young woman standing in the middle of the lobby and wondered what she was doing here. Concerned and curious, she took a step towards her but halted as another reached Cadence first.

“Hey.”

Cadence didn't register the voice at first as her ears were filled with a low humming coupled with the wild beating of her heart.

Cadence sucked in a deep breath and told herself sternly that she could not have a breakdown here. She knew she had to leave, where to she didn't know but anywhere that wasn't here would do for now.

“Cadence?”

Cadence's gaze took on a look of embarrassed horror as she realised she recognised the voice speaking to her. She turned her head up slowly all while wondering woefully why did he have to be here right now?

Congressman Tom Landis was standing opposite her, curiosity giving way to concern in his pale blue eyes as he studied her. He was wearing a long, dark blue winter's coat hiding his attire from view and in one hand he carried a black, leather case that contained his laptop and notes.

“You...you were seeing Josh today,” Cadence realised aloud. She pushed her right hand up to her hair before letting it drop by her side. “God I'm sorry Tom, Congressman Landis,” she corrected hastily. She gave a small, sad smile as she looked at him apologetically. “For more than this,” she admitted. “It's not a good morning, I just...I'm sorry I got some bad news.”

The congressman looked back at her curiously. “You look pale,” he observed. He glanced at the busy lobby area before turning back to her. “I think you should sit,” he advised, “but there aren't any seats.”

With his free hand, the congressman gripped her arm lightly as he gestured ahead with his laptop case.

Surprised, Cadence let him guide to the back wall where he abruptly turned around and pulled her down with him to sit on the black and cream tiled floor against the wainscotting of the cream wall.

Cadence's palms slid along the floor hastily, she had gone down like a stone suddenly full of fatigue.

Congressman Tom Landis mimed a down motion to her as she looked confused and embarrassed and made a half-hearted attempt to rise again.

“It's okay,” he said cheerfully, “we're just sitting, alright they could say it's loitering but they won't because you're the Chief of Staff's daughter.”

He and sat beside her with his legs crossed whilst she sat with her knees raised against her, unaware of how they knocked together slightly.

Cadence looked over at him in mortification. The ringing in her ears had faded and she became aware of the confused voices as Tom's gesture gained them more attention.

“Tom what are you doing?” she queried in bewilderment. “People are looking, you're a congressman,” she hissed at him in scorn.

“You looked like you needed to sit down,” Tom insisted. Aware of a scornful stare upon them, Tom turned his attention forward and up. Recognising a passing Democrat senator, Tom smiled and held his hand up in a wave. “Hey, how are you?” he greeted chirpily with a grin.

The senator eyeballed Tom with an unhidden revulsion before hurrying on without a word, evidently embarrassed that anyone watching might think he knew Tom.

Tom's smile widened before he turned it on Cadence showing that the right corner of his mouth was up higher making his smile unbalanced.

“They tend to give me that reaction any day I'm here,” he assured her.

C.J was now observing the scene with everyone else, mystified as she knew she should make some effort to draw attention from it or end it and yet she was too intrigued to interfere. She didn't recognise Tom and had wondered initially if she should stop him when he had pulled Cadence away. Now she just puzzled as she watched him and Cadence converse on the floor.

“Tom the press can take photos here, so can tourists,” Cadence murmured in a panic.

“Well I'll admit my shirt's wrinkled,” Tom mused as he glanced down at his attire, “but other than that I'm alright with a picture. Maybe the public will enjoy the proof that we don't all turn to ash here.”

Cadence cocked her head at him as she gave him a frown despite the small hint of joy seeping into her eyes. “Tom, you're wearing a coat, they can't see your shirt,” she pointed out.

Tom's smile brightened at this. “Well even better, don't you think?”

“Tom, why...” Cadence trailed off, she didn't even know what to ask him.

“Cady you look upset and you said you got bad news,” he reminded her quietly as his smile faded and his stare turned serious. “I just want to help.”

Cadence felt her eyes burn again and she shook her head angrily. “I do not deserve that,” she said firmly. Her anger gave way to grief as the tears started to fall. “I said things that weren't true, they said it was for the greater good but lying is always wrong no matter how you dress it and I lied about innocent people, good people and now someone else is dead. Someone who maybe wasn't good either but he was important to me, he mattered and I thought I tried hard to see him but I didn't try hard enough. I let him down Tom,” she raised her hands up to her face in an attempt subdue a sob, “I let him down,” she repeated quietly.

Tom's blue gaze turned sympathetic although he had no idea what the woman was talking about.

Cadence wiped at her eyes hastily with her hands before lowering them to her lap and giving Tom a more composed stare. “I need to leave,” she remarked quietly, “before I'm the subject of another breakdown story.”

“Alright.”

Tom nodded before he extended a hand out to her.

“We stand up together then it's not just you they'll talk about sitting here,” Tom said. “Maybe our feet just got tired and we didn't want to take a seat away from a little old lady who might need it more,” he suggested humorously as his smile crept back.

Cadence glanced down at the hand and then back up at the smiling congressman. “Tom, don't let me pull you into this mess,” she pleaded. “You don't need the press insulting you just because you were trying to be nice.”

“The press insult me for being a Republican,” he reminded her, “being insulted for being nice will be a good change of pace.”

Cadence shook her head. “Tom I know you must've seen the stories, all the things they label me with.”

“Is that why you didn't call?” he quipped with a serious stare. “I figured you didn't want to be seen with me publicly, I didn't think it would be the other way round.”

Cadence gave a weak smile and shrugged. “They called me a traitor to the public, I wouldn't care if they ran stories about me dating a Republican but you aren't tarnished yet and you deserve better.”

“Hmm.” Tom gave his lopsided grin again. “You don't know me, being a Republican isn't my worst offence. I used to work part-time in a Chessie souvenir shop and I still have the 'Chessie Hide and Seek Champion' sweater to prove it and this.” Tom tapped a small pin on the collar of his coat pointedly

Cadence stared at it curiously and her smile brightened slightly as she saw that it was cartoonic smiling green sea serpent with Chessie under it in red font. She shook her head as her smile faded suddenly, taken away by her guilt.

“I got bad news but I'm smiling what even is that?” she queried harshly. “Denial? Putting it off? Avoidance I think, I always move around the bad things. You don't even know, well you do, I hid under a desk because a door closed too loudly the day we met,” she murmured bitterly.

“Cady, I have read about you,” Tom retorted calmly, “I admitted that when we met and what I know is you have a lot of bad experiences and you get reminded of them. I understand. Now, let's stand up and get out of here like you want.”

Tom held out his hand again and Cadence accepted and they stood together.

“Back to the West Wing?” Tom suggested.

Cadence glanced to the doors she must have come through. She realised John had not come and wondered if he had even followed. She could only recall her father shouting after her. She thought of what the President had said again and felt fresh tears roll down her cheeks. Benny was dead. She had begged to see him when she had learned about his presence again, she had pleaded with her father and the President but been denied because 'he wasn't well' and it 'wasn't a good idea' and now here they were. She wasn't even sure she really believed it was suicide given everything she had experienced with him. It made her furious, furious that she hadn't had a chance to see him and maybe prevent this and furious that he hadn't been under better protection or in better care.

No matter what Cadence did or didn't do it didn't seem to matter anymore. People kept getting hurt and betrayed and killed. She had given Zoey ill-advice that had led to a serious ripple effect of violence, Zoey had been seen publicly with Charlie prompting some murderous rage from shooters who had wounded Josh and the President instead, almost fatally. She had kept secrets about the CIA and Colombia out of fear and the country had almost ended up at war over it. Then she had lied about the Colombian villagers for the sake of peace and ended up getting attacked in Colombia for it and now Agent Sparks was dead over it and who knew how many others had suffered. Hell, to save herself she had stood by whilst innocent villagers were gunned down. Before that she had entangled herself in a sordid affair with John and a baby she hadn't even known was there had perished inside her. Before that still Robbie had tried to surprise her as a prom date and been knifed down for it.

“I am a traitor Tom,” she murmured numbly as she released his hand. “I lied in Colombia about those people.”

Tom was silent as he tried to think about her speech in Colombia, he had watched it just like most of the country but he hadn't really paid much attention to it and now he struggled to recall the finer points of it.

Cadence saw her father appear at last and felt the exhaustion of her emotions return. He had spotted her and was moving quickly, eyes full of concern for her and suspicion for Tom. Cadence knew she couldn't run from him again yet she didn't know how to speak to him or the President without getting angry at them.

Agent Sparks had been a nobody to them and a dispensable pawn to others. Hell, Cadence wasn't even sure she'd known the real Benjamin Sparks at any stage but he had still mattered, he had still had value as a human being so why in the hell hadn't more been done for him?

Seeing Leo arrive, C.J snapped into action to help the tour guide urge the visitors hastily on from the scene. The press secretary observed Leo's wide eyed stare of worry and knew that something was horribly wrong but frustratingly she did not know what. She gave him a final stare before she herded the people on to another room.

Cadence felt her stomach roll with bile. She felt such a disgust for the administration she had vowed she wouldn't insult again. It had let her down too. She had been sent to Colombia as a pawn, a sacrifice even, the one who would grovel and apologise and who was worth risking because better she got killed than say the President or his Chief of Staff. Cadence knew she had brought a lot of that mess on herself, she had accepted that but she was still angry to have been hurt for it. It was why she couldn't bring herself to ask her father to contact his psychiatrist friend to help her because she was unwilling to ask for help from a man who had been part of the administration that had allowed her to go to Colombia as a vulnerable nobody in the first place.

“Nobody,” Cadence murmured softly, “we're all just nobodies.”

Tom looked at her quizzically. “Everyone is someone to somebody,” he retorted calmly.

Leo had halted before them and was staring at his daughter with guilt and worry. “Cady, you need to come back,” he compelled her gently. “Come on, we need to talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” she quipped bitterly. “He's dead because he didn't matter enough to protect.”

“Honey that's not true,” Leo protested. “He had a lot of issues-”

“Like me?” she interrupted with a savage stare. “Are you going to say he just couldn't be helped dad? Is that it? Too crazy to be stopped? Is it the same for me then? Is it inevitable?” She shook her head in a sudden fury. “Damn it I'm sick of these games!” She stepped back from Leo and gestured down to the tiled floor with one hand. “This place is poison! It's all just politics and pawns!”

Leo glanced about their surroundings warily, C.J might have helped move the bulk of the people on but there were still too many White House workers listening in for Leo's liking. He gave Tom a hostile stare, recognising him as the Republican senator linked to the environmental bill changes Josh was heading.

“Cady enough,” Leo said firmly. “I am sorry for the news and how it was delivered to you and I know how much it hurts you, I do. Please just come back with me and we'll talk about it because you need to talk baby girl.”

Cadence shook her head as the tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. “Not with you two, you sent me to Colombia without protection, you made me lie, you got me hurt and you knew Benny was at risk, you knew people wanted him dead and you knew he was unstable but he didn't matter enough to either of you and now he's dead. I can't do it anymore dad, I keep trying to make a difference, to do good but there's only bad and it doesn't seem to stop.”

Leo's eyes widened as Cadence talked about lying and he glanced to Tom again, willing the man to hurry up and leave already but he lingered, all the while watching Cadence with concern.

Cadence shook her head. “I should have never come back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went through so many rewrites. Am I overcomplicating this? I feel dramas and politics are complicated. I also feel, in a way, Cady deserves better than John but they do love each other in a very messed up way. I also feel, I'd like to end this fic soon but I would love to do a sequel, this really has been Season 1 focused, I mean how many fics could I do in this world? Good grief. I'd love to write Ainsley and Amy into it, I love them both.


	34. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

“Cady cat I know you don't want to hear it,” Mallory began in a calm tone.

“No,” Cadence interrupted flatly.

Mallory glanced across the bench to her sister and smiled. “But,” she continued firmly, “you can't fall out with family coming up to Christmas.” She paused to breathe over her take out coffee cup. “Besides,” she added quietly, “you've got to spend Christmas with one of them.”

“No, nope and not gonna happen,” Cadence retorted cheerfully. She pushed the ends of her scarf over her shoulder before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

The sisters were sitting outdoors on a cool morning watching people pass them by, walking quickly even as they tried to avoid patches of ice.

Mallory shook her head and gave a tut.

“Don't do the teacher thing,” Cadence complained.

“Don't do the pouting thing,” Mallory chided with another teasing smile. “Look, Sam and I are going out to dinner tonight with Zoey and Charlie and I want you to come.”

“No.”

“You can bring your mystery man.”

Cadence glanced over to Mallory in surprise. She was silent as her cheeks flushed a faint pink giving away her embarrassment.

Mallory laughed at her sister's face. “I found the parcel of cheeses in your fridge, definitely a gift, a very strange, smelly gift but still a gift.”

“That could just be from a friend,” Cadence ventured defensively. “What were you doing hunting in my fridge anyway?”

“Getting milk, the smell compelled me to make sure there wasn't anything rotting in there.” Mallory took another sip of her coffee. “Also, dad keeps complaining about the company you keep so either it's a boyfriend or a drug dealer,” she jested lightly.

“You got me, I've decided to add being a stoner to my long list of offences,” Cadence murmured dryly.

“Is it the same person who got you that raccoon teddy when you were sick?”

Mallory marvelled at the astonished look Cadence gave her. “Cady I do notice things. Now come on, I'm your big sister and I want to know about the possible men in your life.”

Cadence's gaze turned sorrowful. “We're not dating, it's just...he deserves better than me and I keep messing up when we do meet and...” Cadence bowed her head to face her lap and clenched her styrofoam cup tightly in both hands. “Benny's only buried.”

Mallory gave her sister a sympathetic stare as she reached over a hand to squeeze her shoulder. “Cady don't take this the wrong way but you didn't know Agent Sparks, you've said that yourself, you were part of his cover. Look, from what you've told me I think you both had real feelings for each other but it was a while ago. Cady, you don't deserve to be alone and you need to stop punishing yourself, for Agent Sparks and for Robbie.”

The funeral of Benjamin Sparks had been a week ago. Cadence hadn't been able to go, she wasn't invited but she understood why. To his parents if she was anything at all she was partly to blame for his terrible demise. Mallory was right, she hadn't really known him but she had still cried the day he was buried anyway and spent the day in her apartment with Mallory and Zoey round, adamant that they were eating junk food and watching comedies all day.

In the wake of Benjamin Sparks' death and upon learning how deeply distraught Cadence was over it, Zoey had pushed aside her anger for the older woman and they had made peace. It had been a little awkward but they had gotten there. Cadence had apologised and acknowledged that Zoey was still dealing with her own trauma after Rosslyn. Some tears and sharing a big bowl of ice-cream in Zoey's dorm under Gina's disapproval gaze had helped with the apologising and forgiving.

“You're coming for dinner tonight, I don't believe you've eaten properly in days,” Mallory scorned as she gave Cadence's shoulder a gentle shake before releasing it. “Then we'll discuss who's getting mom for Christmas and who's getting dad. I know,” Mallory continued as she gave her sister a stern stare, “that you aren't talking to either of them right now but tough, you can only be mad at one of them over the holidays or preferably neither.”

Cadence sighed. “Christmas isn't a Hallmark movie Mal.”

“No, it's several of them,” her sister enthused with a happy smile. “Dinner's at seven, Paradiso Stellato, plus one preferred.”

Cadence stared over at Mallory accusingly. “It's December, you don't get tables without reservations.”

Mallory's smile widened. “We have reservations.”

“For how many?” Cadence frowned as her stormy grey-blue eyes filled with suspicion.

“Six,” came the cheery answer. “I've already asked Sam to uncover the mystery.”

“Why would Sam know?” Cadence almost yelled out the question as she gaped at her sister in a mixture of horror and embarrassment.

“Dad said if Josh wasn't already in a bad place right now he'd put him in one,” Mallory answered humorously. “Now since dad loves Josh like a son, I have to assume he's making threats because there's a connection between Josh and your mystery man.”

Cadence frowned before looking concerned. “What's wrong with Josh?”

Mallory frowned this time. “You didn't hear?” she quipped.

Cadence shook her head. “I haven't been at the White House in over a week,” she admitted.

Cadence remembered her last day there all too easily, she had stood in the lobby blaming her father and the President for Benny's fate and wishing she had never come back. She still believed what she had said, both that her father and the President were accountable for Benny's death and that things would have been better if she had continued to stay away.

“Well,” Mallory said quietly, “Josh has PTSD from Rosslyn, understandably and Sam said he lost it a little at the President.”

“Lost it?” Cadence echoed.

Mallory nodded. “He shouted at him. Dad's got him seeing a psychiatrist. I asked why he didn't do the same for you,” she added as her tone took on a hint of anger.

Cadence frowned back moodily. “Mal I've done that before, I'm not going to go down that road again.”

“No, you just make paper animals and hope it goes away,” Mallory chided. Her gaze softened at Cadence's look of hurt. “Cady cat I'm sorry, it's just, you do need help. You've been through a lot and you carry so much blame and guilt when you shouldn't.”

Cadence held up a hand in protest. “Mal, I need to get back work,” she said.

She stood up and smoothed down her grey jacket.

Mallory stood up as well. “Dinner at seven,” she said firmly. “It's non-negotiable and if Sam wants to stay over at my house after I'll have your mystery man's name by this afternoon to invite him too,” she added happily.

Cadence shrugged at this. “There is no mystery man,” she insisted.

Mallory reached out and gave her a sister a light hug. “I'll see you later.”

“See you later Mal.”

\---

Josh gazed up at Sam tiredly wondering why the man seemed even more hyper than usual.

Sam paced about Josh's office energetically, pausing every so often to open his mouth as if to say something before rethinking it and shaking his head.

“Sam I know I definitely have work related to the running of this country to do,” Josh murmured, “so could you maybe just come out and say what's bothering you?”

Sam halted again and gave Josh a sheepish look. “Sorry, I'm just trying to think of a tactful way to say it. That is,” he raised one finger as if to point before pushing his glasses up his nose, “I'm not sure it's appropriate, it's invasive really.”

Josh wound his hand about impatiently in a forward clockwise motion. “Sam,” he said pleadingly. He was trying not to snap but the urge was there. He had had a few sessions in therapy but if anything it had only added to his paranoia and irritation.

Sam lowered his hand and looked down at his co-worker apologetically. The office had a slight winter's chill to it but Sam was warm from his frantic pacing about and glad that he had abandoned his jacket in his office.

“Sorry, Mallory wants me to find out who Cadence's new boyfriend is so she can invite him to dinner,” Sam confessed hastily.

Josh gazed up at him dumbfounded. “Um...okay. I feel like maybe there's some vital information you've missed out that explains why you're in here.”

Sam nodded with an apologetic smile. “Right, well, she says Leo said some things about you that have led her to believe you know who this person is.” Sam held up a protesting hand and waved it. “I don't know what they were or if she's interpreted them correctly. Maybe you don't know.”

Josh sighed as he leaned back into his chair. He had always known he would rue the day he tried to help set Congressman Landis and Cadence McGarry up. He was surprised to hear Sam say the word 'boyfriend', he didn't think that was accurate and felt a little odd about it.

Josh still saw Tom in the West Wing although Leo had demanded last week that he wrap up 'the Nessie nonsense' and grumbled that 'the Republican could get cosy in the White House when 'his own man made it in'. Although Josh knew Leo was blinded by a father's wary nature he agreed that Leo did have a point. Josh's business with Tom was far from important but Josh found the light hearted, pleasant nature of the congressman a welcome crutch to lean on. Josh had started to resume his serious duties again but he needed that bright moment to keep him going otherwise he feared his despair, uncertainty and paranoia would devour him.

Sam gave Josh a surprised stare when Josh didn't protest. “You do know,” he accused.

Josh nodded as he placed his palm against his brow and pushed his fingertips up into his curls. “Sure, sort of, I don't think they're dating. They're not dating,” he said with more certainty.

“What's his name Josh? I'm sorry to be persistent,” Sam added hastily in a sincerely apologetic manner, “but Mallory has gotten a little crazy over this and she won't let me...ahem...stay over until I get a name.” Sam blushed faintly at his confession.

Josh immediately lowered his palm to gaze up at Sam in disbelief before a wide grin broke out across his face. “Are you saying Mallory is withholding sex if you don't get the name of the man she thinks her sister is dating?” Josh snickered at this.

Sam frowned. “Yes.”

Josh let out a loud laugh before he could help it. “And they say it's worse to be single. I'm telling Toby about this, it'll comfort him.”

Sam's frown deepened. “Come on Josh,” he begged as he held out his hands. “Help me out, please, what's his name? I mean if you don't think they're dating then there's no secret really.”

Josh continued to smile as his laugh faded to a chortle. “I suppose. Alright, it's Congressman Landis.”

It was Sam's turn to look surprised. “The Republican?”

“He's more than that Sam but yes.”

“Are you sure?”

Josh shrugged and continued to smile. “Well no because I don't think they're dating so maybe it's someone else.”

“No,” Sam interrupted as he looked thoughtful, “that would give Leo a reason to want to kill you.”

Josh swallowed hard as the humour faded from his face. “Kill me?” he repeated warily. “I thought you didn't know what Leo said.” He glanced up at Sam suspiciously.

Sam shrugged. “Well it's speculation really,” he retorted awkwardly with a small smile. “Anyway, thank you for that Josh. I'm going to go now, I have a few speeches to edit.”

“You're going to call Mallory,” Josh said it accusingly as he stretched back in his chair.

“Well yes,” Sam confessed, “but then I will be completing my amendments to speeches for the President, Toby gets a little...high strung when I delay over editing.”

“High strung,” Josh repeated quietly as he sat forward again, “that's putting it mildly.”

“Is Tom a serious Republican?” Sam queried suddenly as he glanced at Josh.

Josh gave a bemused smile at this. “What other kind is there?”

“Well, I'm going for dinner with Mallory tonight,” Sam trailed off with an embarrassed look.

Josh's dark stare filled with mockery as it glittered up at Sam. “That was implied Sam and you once went for dinner with a prostitute, I would say a Republican is usually less controversial.”

“A call girl,” Sam corrected sternly with a frown, “and it really does depend on the Republican.”

“Sam, I only know him through our meetings, I've never socialised with the guy but he seems alright.”

Sam nodded. “Alright, I can deal with alright but suppose he talks politics.”

“Suppose you do Sam?” Josh threw his hands up in the air wearily before wincing and letting them drop back to the desk. “It is the nature of our job, well usually, you've spent a long time in here talking about dinner dates and sex.”

Sam's cheeks turned a faint pink at this accusation and his awkward smile returned.

“Sam talk about Christmas and tinsel and the weather and dinner,” Josh muttered dismissively as he dragged a hand down his face wearily, “I don't know and I don't care. Cadence will probably turn it into a disaster anyway,” he added spitefully.

Sam's cerulean gaze sparked with surprise at this jibe. “Josh,” he said quietly.

Sam gave his friend a look of concern. He had witnessed Josh's outburst at the President, most of them had and they all knew it came from a place of trauma and fear. The man was going through something that only the President could relate too and unfortunately Jed Bartlett had a few too many other things to be dealing with than trading tales of trauma with his Deputy Chief of Staff so Josh had no one to relate to.

Josh waved Sam off. He was weary of the looks and the frowns, the hushed murmurs and worse, the silences and sympathy. No one knew what to say and only Donna wasn't treating him like a ticking time bomb, showing no fear to the possibility of a verbal outburst from him. Donna was quite used to his irate yelling anyway Josh supposed.

“Sam, I'll be fine,” Josh remarked grudgingly. “Have a nice dinner, don't let Mallory scare Tom off and don't you scare him off either, Cadence probably should have at least one decent date with him, it is coming up to Christmas after all.”

Sam nodded with another smile, too pleased at the thought of dinner to notice how Josh used the congressman's forename this time. “Right, thanks Josh. You know, you could-”

Josh held up a hand to cut off the offer before Sam could hear it. “I'm really not in the mood,” he insisted, “I'd be a fifth wheel and I still believe Cadence is the devil incarnate.”

“She's not that bad Josh and no one would treat you like a wheel, seventh wheel that is, Charlie and Zoey are going too,” Sam retorted. “I could ask Toby and C.J as well,” he said.

Josh shook his head. “Sam, that's nice but we both know Toby would most likely start a fist fight with the Republican,” he sounded out 'Republican' mockingly.

“Alright, well the offer's there Josh,” Sam insisted, “it will be fun.”

Josh looked confused for a moment and gave Sam another accusing stare. “Wait a minute, Zoey and Charlie are going?”

Sam nodded. “Zoey wants a normal dinner date too.”

Josh gave a half-smile at this as he nodded. “Huh. It seems...a little risky,” he murmured.

“I know,” Sam agreed quietly, “but we'll take every precaution.” He gave Josh a slightly happier stare. “Well thanks for the information, I'm going to tell Mallory and she can do with it as she will, that way I won't be blamed for a Republican attending dinner with the President's daughter.”

Josh let out a chuckle at this as he wondered what Jed Bartlett's reaction might be to that news.

Sam finally headed out of the office and retreated for his own. He felt Toby's disapproving, impatient gaze upon him as he entered his own office and wasn't surprised when a soft ball started bouncing off the glass window as he picked up the phone to call Mallory.

“Hey Mallory,” Sam greeted brightly as she answered. “Yes, I got a name,” he assured excitedly.

Sam paused to push his glasses up his nose as he smiled.

Sam hesitated as he heard his office door open. He glanced over expecting to see an irate Toby but was surprised to see a tired looking Josh standing there instead.

“Sam,” Josh addressed him softly as he leaned against the door frame.

Sam could hear Mallory shouting at him impatiently for a name. “Just a moment Mallory,” he said softly as he reached up a hand to cover the mouthpiece. He lowered the phone slightly and looked questioningly to Josh.

“Let me speak to Congressman Landis,” Josh insisted. “I mean he might not want to go but if he makes that decision Cadence should really be told. I just want to let him know what he's up against but also,” Josh paused and gave an awkward smile, “that he should make it clear if he's not going to go and not let her wonder.”

Sam was bewildered by Josh's kind offer and wondered at it before he recalled what Mallory had told him about Cadence and Robbie when that story had been leaked. Cadence had stood in her prom dress waiting for Robbie, not even knowing for part of the night that it was him she was waiting for and then confused and worried as she had no way of knowing for sure where Robbie was or what had happened. Yes, Sam got what Josh was thinking but he was shocked that Josh was the one to think of it or cared enough to act upon it.

Sam nodded. “Thanks Josh,” he retorted sincerely, “and seriously, think about coming, it will be good. It's at seven, Paradiso Stellato.”

Josh gave a weak, half smile. “That's it, that's all I wanted,” he confessed quietly as he glanced about Sam's office awkwardly.

Sam smiled as he raised the phone again. “Hey Mallory, I'm back. It's Congressman Tom Landis,” he explained, “although Josh isn't certain that they're dating but he's going to ring Congressman Landis and test the waters, see if he wants to come.”

Josh tensed when he bumped into someone behind him and felt a sense of slight unease when he heard the unmistakable grunt of Toby Ziegler.

Toby stood with his arms crossed and a frown on his face that Josh was starting to think was permanently etched there, as much a feature of Toby as his dark blue eyes or greying beard.

“Toby,” he said with a put on joy as he faced the moody man, “good morning.” The excitable energy that normally came to Josh effortlessly had become a drain on him lately and it took a lot for the Deputy Chief of Staff to smile to his colleagues.

Toby frowned back at Josh.

Josh's smile faded slightly. “Toby what's wrong? You look a little stressed.”

Toby folded his arms and fresh wrinkles appeared in his balding brow as his dark indigo eyes filled with scorn. In his right hand he clutched a white soft ball. “I heard the name of a Republican, one whose name gets invoked a little too often around here,” he said accusingly.

Josh let out a mocking snort at this. “Invoked,” he sneered, “you make it sound like we're sacrificing goats and trying to summon him.”

Toby raised his dark eyebrows slightly at this. “That might be preferable to what it sounds like you are doing.”

“Which is?” Josh quipped as he tried to play dumb.

“Dating him,” Toby said it stonily as he continued to frown. He nodded in to Sam as Josh's face filled with amusement. “Or trying to test the waters with him anyway,” he added as he pulled a face of disgust.

Josh started to laugh loudly, unable to help it.

Sam glanced out the open door curiously as he wondered at the conversation. He spied Toby and filled with concern even as he tried to keep focused on Mallory's voice down the phone.

“Toby I...” Josh's throat seemed to catch on his protest and he felt a rush of heat creeping up his neck. He shook his head. “No!” he exclaimed with a wave of his hands. “How could you think that? It's Cadence,” he snapped as he laughed again, “Cadence is dating him, well maybe, no scratch that, we don't know for sure so saying it as a certainty might give Leo heart failure.”

Toby remained full of disapproval as he retained his hostile stance. “Well whilst I have little to no concern for Cadence McGarry's dating life I have to wonder why it should be of concern to either you or Sam. Surely you two have better things to do than attempting to arrange dates between Democrats and them.”

“Them,” Josh echoed with another snort of mirth. He raised a hand to his mouth in an attempt conceal his smile. He shook his head again and lowered the hand. “Toby, don't worry about it,” he said calmly, “we do have other things to concern ourselves with, like this oil business and some concerns over explosions in Syria and a protest in Qumar.”

Toby nodded agreeably. “Yes. We have a meeting with the President in ten minutes to address some of those very things.”

“I know,” Josh said. He pushed his hands through his curls before stepping past Toby.

Toby glowered in at Sam before tossing the ball.

“Ouch!” Sam let out a cry of both protest and surprise as he was struck with the soft ball on the forehead. The offending ball fell harmlessly to the floor. “Sorry Mallory,” he said as he rubbed at his brow, “Toby is throwing stuff, which means I have to go. No, it didn't hurt, it's a ball, a soft ball Mal. Yes, I'll let him know.” Sam smiled widely. “Okay, bye Mallory. Yes of course I'll let you know how the phone call went! Right, bye.”

Sam ended the call and grinned over at Toby. “Mallory says her children learn that violence usually isn't the answer from the age of four and that you need a time out.”

“Mallory doesn't know what I put up with on a daily basis from you,” Toby retorted moodily. “Now Sam, whilst I doubt you've carried out those amendments yet do you have something we can show the President?”

“Of course,” Sam retorted confidently as he reached for some neatly stacked sheets on his desk.

“Then let's go,” Toby snapped impatiently as he made a coaxing motion with his hand.

–

Jed surveyed his core team with a warm smile. He stood in the centre of the Oval Office, between the front of the Presidential desk and the seats C.J, Sam, Toby and Josh were currently occupying.

Leo stood opposite him and at the other side of the seats. He was especially happy to see Josh back in his usual position although he did notice the nervous spark in the man's dark brown eyes.

“Well, how has everyone's morning been?” Jed quipped brightly.

“Good sir, thank you for asking,” Sam enthused with a smile.

C.J gave him a nudge before she smiled over at him mockingly.

Jed raised his eyebrows slightly at this. “Claudia Jean that wasn't an assault in the workplace that I just witnessed, now was it?” he queried calmly.

C.J smiled up at Jed benevolently. “No sir, just a gentle suggestion to Sam that his remark is all too transparent as an attempt to win favour.”

“Oh I see.” Jed clasped his hands behind his back and nodded. “Sam, do you have any defence to offer?”

Sam frowned at C.J before looking up to Jed protestingly. “I was being sincere sir,” he insisted.

Josh gave a soft chuckle from the opposing chair. “No it's true sir,” he said as he pointed over to his friend, “he has dinner plans, he's truly happy and his morning is genuinely good.”

“Dinner plans with the devil,” Toby grumbled before he could help it.

“Also true,” Josh agreed merrily with a smirk.

“And what does that mean?” Leo snapped as he stepped forward and frowned down at Toby.

“Cadence.”

“A Republican.”

Josh and Toby answered together.

“Ooh dear,” Jed remarked dramatically as he stared across the room at Leo.

Leo's face filled with fury as he frowned from one to the other and his mouth opened as if ready to let out a yell.

“Now Leo, before you give yourself a heart attack, let's have Sam explain this one,” Jed suggested as he held up a hand to Leo.

Jed lowered the hand and turned a questioning stare down upon the flustered Sam.  
Sam shot a glare across to Toby and Josh who both showed indifference to it.

Josh had raised a finger to his chin and was looking thoughtful whilst Toby retained his familiar frown.

“Well Sam, we're waiting,” Jed remarked, making it clear that Sam was going to have divulge his plans for the evening.

“We're having dinner, it's not a big deal,” Sam insisted as he glanced nervously from Jed to Leo.

“Who's we?” Jed pried. His blue gaze sparkled with amusement as he considered Sam's squirming a delightful distraction from his daily woes.

“Um...well myself and Mallory of course, and Zoey and Charlie, Mallory invited them,” he added quickly as he turned up to Jed with an anxious stare, “and Cadence and maybe...er...” Sam swallowed hard. He could feel the heat burning in Leo's grey stare and knew the man was only a few minutes away from an outburst. “Maybe,” Sam forced himself to be calm, “Tom Landis, it's a possibility.”

“No,” Leo snapped angrily. “No.”

“I agree,” Jed said, surprising Sam. “It sounds risky to have our girls out there like that, let's do it here.”

“WHAT?!”

It was hard to tell who shouted out the protest first or the loudest- Toby, Sam or Leo had both yelled the word at the same time.

C.J glanced around the room in mild surprise before smiling, amused that something as simple as dinner could create such a hostile atmosphere.

Josh stared up at Jed in shock. “Excuse me sir, could you repeat that?” he quipped with a small smile.

Jed smiled back at Josh obligingly.

“I think dinner should be here, I haven't seen Mallory or Cady, or even my dear daughter Zoey for a while,” Jed remarked. “And it would be safer for them and more private.” Jed frowned down at Sam. “Did you even consider the intrusion of the press Mr. Seaborn?”

Sam winced slightly. “No sir, I was thinking of Zoey's insistence that we try and keep things normal and Mallory saying that a dinner date might be mundane enough to get Cady out of the house.”

Jed frowned and shook his head. “Zoey's always pushing that barrier, teenagers, even when you're a President they don't change. Well you and Charlie should know better,” he added sternly as he pointed down at Sam in a scolding manner.

C.J, who had been struggling not to laugh, glanced up at the President with humour as she tried and failed to force up a serious expression. “Sir, how will you keep this from the press?” she queried.  
“A dinner with my daughter and women I consider to be like daughters?” Jed marvelled as he parted his hands theatrically. “C.J the news can't be that slow.”

“No sir, I meant-”

“The Republican,” Leo growled out in interruption. He stepped forward to Jed appealingly. “Sir you can't and you won't, I won't let you,” he insisted.

“Leo, Leo, you're thinking as a father,” Jed replied warmly. He closed the gap between them and put an arm about his friend.

“No sir,” Leo protested as he pressed a hand into his chest, “I'm thinking as a Democrat. He'd be like the Trojan Horse, in to get all our intimate secrets.”

“Our recipes you mean?” Jed scoffed. “We're hardly going to let him into the War Room and I'm sure Margaret has your diary safely locked up,” he added mockingly.

Leo nudged the hand off his shoulder and took a step back so he could face Jed directly again. “Sir I'm not kidding, this would be terrible if it leaked that you were inviting Republicans to dinner! And you're forgetting that Cadence certainly won't come here.”

“Couldn't we say it's a gesture of peace?” Jed gave a wide, pleased smile at this. “Yes, goodwill and peace for Christmas time, I like that. Peace with Cady, it's about time that happened Leo, and peace with the Republicans, at least for the season. C.J what about that kind of story?”

“Sir, please don't,” Josh objected. He flinched slightly as everyone looked to him.

“I mean invite Congressman Landis to dinner sure,” Josh said, “but don't use him like that, it would be bad for his career.” Realising how he sounded, Josh added hastily, “Cadence wouldn't thank you for it, it could appear like you're using her to make a show of good relations with the Republicans.”

Jed's smile dimmed slightly but he nodded. “I suppose you're right. Well my invitation is to the girls and their plus ones and all of you, should a Republican happen to be included in that group, well I'm sure we could keep it quiet.”

Jed gave Toby and C.J both a warning stare. “We will keep it quiet,” he said sternly. “And Leo, you won't be getting near any knives, in fact you can't come.”

“Sir!” Leo snapped a protest.

Jed wagged a finger at him scornfully. “No Leo, you would only embarrass Cadence, let her enjoy her dinner.”

“You could do that by letting us stick to our plans,” Sam suggested hopefully. He sank into his seat at Jed's look of disapproval and knew that Mallory was going to be yelling at him for this unintentional blunder soon.

“Cadence won't come,” Leo remarked adamantly. He raised his hands slightly as he faced Jed. “She's still very mad with us over Agent Sparks' suicide, sir.”

Jed's expression was oddly calm as he stared back at Leo.

“There is going to be dinner,” Jed said firmly, “it will be in this White House,” he added as he pointed down to the carpet, “it will be lovely and everyone will be happy and enjoy it. If Sam has to lie about the location to get Cadence here he will and if a man with political beliefs that are opposing to ours come we will avoid the topic of politics and treat him politely. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir,” they answered as a group with weak enthusiasm, except for Leo who was stubbornly silent. Jed grinned. “See how nice it is when you all agree with me, marvellous. Now Sam, what time was dinner to be at?”

Sam was still sagging in the couch as if he could vanish into it and wearing an expression of despair as he thought about how angry Mallory and Zoey were going to soon be with him. “Seven sir.”

“No, that's no good, make it eight,” Jed ordered.

Sam swallowed down a protest. “Alright sir but please do not hold me responsible for Mallory if she is um..disagreeable tonight,” he concluded weakly.

“Can we please talk about something else now?” Toby queried loudly. “Maybe explosions or oil or protests?”

Jed laughed. “Why Toby are you suggesting dinner plans aren't as important as potential world wars?”

Toby glanced up at his boss and tried not to frown. “I feel that there is a certain level of importance when considering matters of war,” he remarked calmly.

“You've clearly forgotten the fun of a family dinner,” C.J mocked with a smirk. “They can often be considered matters of war.”

Toby burrowed his head into his hands with a sigh of despair. “If there's talk like this at dinner we'll be handing the next election to them,” he groaned to his palms.

“Them,” Josh repeated tauntingly. He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Isn't that a horror movie? The dreaded them, it sounds like one.”

“Could we please move on to one of the topics we're supposed to be discussing?” Leo queried irately. “No one in this room has time for this,” he added heatedly.

Toby lowered his palms and looked to Leo. “See, that's why I'm trying to say.”

“Alright, if you pair must ruin the fun of the morning,” Jed said with a slight frown, “what's next then?”

–

Josh felt stupid as he held the phone to his ear and listened to it ring. He didn't know why he was getting involved again when it hadn't worked out so well last time. He felt like he was about to invite Tom into a trap.

“Congressman Landis' office,” a cheery female's voice answered.

“Um hi,” Josh said as he leaned forward on his desk and pushed his free hand up into his messy curls. “I'm Josh Lyman, Deputy Chief of Staff, at the White House,” he tacked on. He smiled awkwardly and added, “you probably knew that didn't you?” When he didn't get a response he continued on hastily. “I need to speak to T-Congressman Landis, is he there?”

“Yes, stay on the line and I'll see if he's free.”

The line switched to a succession of beeps to give him the hope of being in wait for a conversation, each beep a promise that he hadn't yet been cut off. Josh considered hitting the receiver and cutting himself off, he had agreed to pass a suggestion of dinner on to Tom when it was casual and in a restaurant but this was a formal invite to the White House with the President, not exactly the same. He realised he couldn't end the call like a coward since he had given his full name and title, which the secretary was liable to pass on to Tom.

“Hello,” Tom's chirpy voice called.

“Hey, Tom, it's Josh.”  
“Yes, from the White House,” Tom retorted mockingly.

Josh winced slightly at this. “Well you know, there might be another,” he retorted lamely. “Um look I'm sorry to interrupt your day but are you free this evening?”

“For a meeting?” came the confused response.

“No, for dinner.” Josh mouthed out a curse as he lowered his hand from his curls to his cheek and leaned against it. “I'm passing on an invite,” he added hastily, “for Cadence.”

“Cadence asked you to ask me to dinner?” Tom queried, still puzzled but sounding happier at the mention of Cadence.

“Well no,” Josh confessed awkwardly. “Sam asked me to ask you actually for Mallory, for Cadence. Although I'm not entirely sure Cadence knows you're being invited, in fact I'm not sure she's definitely going because she might not like the venue, you probably won't either.”

“Josh you're not making any sense here,” Tom said, trying to sound gentle rather than annoyed. “You're asking me to dinner to a venue I won't like and Cadence may or may not be going?”

“Yeah, I knew this was a bad idea,” Josh murmured more to himself than Tom. “I think it was supposed to be Mallory and Sam with the President's daughter Zoey and Charlie, just a nice night out for dinner but Mallory wanted to Cadence to go and she got the idea that Cadence had someone to bring, you, and she wanted to meet you. The problem is the President learned about this and he's not happy to have his daughter, Cadence and Mallory all out in a public restaurant where there could be danger and press.” Josh shrugged. “Same thing sometimes.”

“Wait, wait, where is this dinner Josh?”

“In the White House Tom.”

Josh was not surprised by the laughter that followed but he began to feel annoyed when it continued on for a good twenty seconds.

“This a joke right?” Tom quipped between snickers.

“Um no, eight o'clock if you're interested, the President will be there, Leo won't. Cadence is a maybe, she's not really a fan of this building at the moment,” he added awkwardly.

“I know,” Tom mused.

Josh scratched at his right ear. “I'm not even sure she's getting told, it's possible Mallory and Sam will just force her blindfolded into a car and bring her here.”

“Are you going to this dinner or is just for people who don't want to be in the White House?”

“Well I'm sure Sam,” Josh began a convincing defence before abandoning it, “and no, you're right, Sam just wanted a nice dinner without complications and Mallory is going to be angry with the venue change too.”

“Josh, was that a yes or no? Are you going?”

“I don't know,” Josh admitted, “I don't think the President is giving me a choice.” Josh winced at Tom's chortle. “Tom could you maybe forgot that faux pas of mine? It would do wonders for Leo's opinion of you being a Republican spy if you did.”

“How am I spy? The last time we talked you said I may as well wear a flashing sign saying Republican,” Tom scorned.

“Well, okay. Can I ask one more thing?” Josh queried. “If you're not going to go to this dinner and I'm assuming you won't and absolutely no one would blame you but could you let Cadence know?”

“Could I let Cadence know if I'm attending a dinner she might not know about at a venue she's not getting told about?” Tom queried teasingly.

“See,” Josh said with a small, bitter smile, “I knew you'd get it but seriously Tom,” he added quietly, “the uncertainty for her would be cruel, I mean she'd have all these crazy worries about something have happened to you. I mean turn the dinner down, absolutely, just let her know, please?”

Josh wondered again why he cared. He hadn't heard much about Cadence and Robbie, just what the press had cruelly divulged. Leo never wanted to share when it came to his daughter's complications. Josh remembered the scars on her arms that she had exposed on the Hoynes' campaign, it had taken her a while and explained her odd choice of long sleeves even on hot days. He could recall how sometimes she had rubbed her arms, evidently uncomfortable with her exposure, and would get a dark look in her stare. Now there was this business with Agent Sparks, another mystery to Josh, all he knew was that news of his suicide had led to Cadence having an outburst in the White House lobby before opting to avoid the building altogether. Josh just knew he never wanted to see any new scars on the woman.

“I'll talk to Cady,” Tom assured.

“Thanks Tom. You're not going are you?”

“I am if it gets me a dinner date with Cady, and you Josh,” he added teasingly, “I mean you've made it sound so irresistible.”

Josh gave another smile at this. “Tom, you're an odd sort of Republican aren't you?”

Tom laughed again. “No, I just happen to be very interested and fascinated by a fun, quirky woman and the only way I can ever seem to see her is through odd, unusual encounters on hostile territory.”

“You really do like her, don't you Tom?”

“I do Josh,” he said seriously, “but hey I like you too,” he tacked on jokingly, “does that make me the nice Republican, liking two Democrats?”

Josh shook his head, wondering why he was still continuing this conversation. “I'm not sure.”

“Me either. Well, if Cady agrees to it, I'll see you at dinner.”


	35. One Republican, Two Many

John hated being on the hill, here the Republicans reigned and he and his party were in the minority. He resisted the urge to glance behind him to where Cadence stood, hating that he given into Senator Whyte's desires to 'see the spitfire PR woman again'. John knew Cadence had to be uncomfortable but she was hiding it remarkably well.

They were with Senator Whyte in an office in the Senate where everything was to his advantage.

Matt Whyte had abandoned his previous guise of a stereotypical Texan and was back in his preferred attire of suited and booted senator. He sat opposing John on the other side of a large, heavy desk with an unhidden joy in his treacle brown stare.

The office was ice cold although the windows were closed and it was evident the radiators were off. John was willing to consider that it was possible someone hadn't known the room would be in use but given Matt's heavy, tweed blazer John was mildly suspicious that perhaps someone had deliberately made sure the room would be unpleasantly chilly.

“Tell me Mr Vice President, why are you here?” the senator quipped calmly.

John kept his stare friendly as he gave a small smile. His long, black winter coat was off and hanging on the coat stand to the right of Cadence leaving him in a navy suit with a white shirt and a navy and red striped tie. He almost wished he had kept the coat on but knew it would have appeared rude.

“To discuss the matter of fossil fuels.”

“Taxes you mean,” Matt scoffed back. He leaned back in his chair and rested his arms on his chest. “So it's true, now the liberals want to put up the taxes until it's only green and all the nasty, polluting businesses are out.” He raised his grey eyebrows at this. “Doesn't matter if it makes tens of thousands jobless and on the streets so long as the air's cleaner, right?” he quipped sardonically.

Cadence stood in the backdrop feeling out of place. She had no idea why the senator had insisted on her presence, it wasn't protocol and she knew it was annoying John. She was wearing a tightly fitted pale brown jacket with a matching skirt, a cream, silk shirt with a blue silk pussy bow, matching pumps and her preferred nude pantyhose. Whilst the outfit was flattering it did little to banish the chill of the office. She had her hands behind her back, clasped together as she massaged her fingers in an attempt to get some heat into them.

“Now sir,” John retorted, still calm, “that's not accurate, you know we support the coal industry.”

“Hmm just not the oil then?”

John resisted an urge to frown, knowing the senator was deliberately misinterpreting what he had said. “The money to keep these businesses going has to come from the taxes,” John tried to change tact.

Matt leaned forward, clasping his hands on his desk as he nodded solemnly. “Well as an oil man I can't agree to that,” he said calmly, “you see I took a hit recently, lost a fortune in gun shares so I wouldn't be able to afford a tax increase.”

“Could you afford to lose your oil business entirely?” John queried sharply. He gave the senator a serious stare. “That could happen if the taxes don't go up, there won't be money to invest in the fossil fuel businesses.”

“Nonsense John,” the senator abandoned formalities as he smiled back, “the need for fossil fuels pays for it, what the public pays to run their electricity and their homes is triple what we pay to get the fuel in the first place. You Democrats need money, you know tax is a bad word and so you go for the easy option, tax something that can seem bad, like nasty, polluting fossil fuels.”

Matt pointed across the table accusingly to the Vice President. “Let's cut the crap and have the discussion you came here for. This doesn't get through without Republican support, my support but you've insulted me too many times to deserve it John. I welcomed you to my home and you blackmailed me into dropping my stance for gun rights. After you succeeded with that you wouldn't even take a drink with me you're that petty. Then the information that I had shares in automatic weapons gets leaked after you promised it wouldn't and my reputation and my finances both suffer.”

John, who was already tense at the word 'blackmailed', frowned at this fresh accusation. “That information did not come from my office,” he said firmly.

Matt's amused gaze darted up to Cadence. “I believe that it did. You didn't want to drink with me either, did you Miss McGarry? I always figured you got your job through your daddy and maybe you did but you're more than just an ornament for the Vice President here,” he mused with a nod to John, “you're a sneaky sorta woman aren't you? It took me too long a time to work out you were the one who got the story on my shares.”

“I didn't go public with it, sir,” Cadence answered quietly as she held his gaze with a cool calm.

Matt gave her an unpleasant smile. “Well I wouldn't expect either of you to admit it if you had. It was a brass move but I applaud it, it got you what you wanted at the time.” He turned a malicious stare upon the Vice President and concluded calmly, “but you're going to pay for it now John.”

John bristled as the senator used his name again, swallowing down the urge to remind him of his rank and title. Now was not the time to let his ego in charge.

“I want you to apologise and then I want you to beg for the help we all know your party requires from me,” Matt said firmly as he smiled.

John looked back at him in disbelief, too shocked to even be angry. “Have you lost your mind speaking to me that way? I won't beg,” he snapped.

Matt nodded. “You will sir if you want my support and the lovely Miss McGarry will be witness so there can be no misunderstanding. How can I trust you if you don't apologise for your treachery? How can I help someone who caused me so much damage?” He gestured his hands outwards across the table. “How could I persuade another Republican to side with this?”

John's frown was back. He knew now why Cadence had been invited, so he was well and truly humiliated. Matt probably hoped Cadence would leak news of John's begging back to the others. John couldn't even be glad that Matt had misjudged her in that way because the truth was much worse. How could John look her in the eyes knowing she had seen him caught in such a weakness? He could see no way out, Jed had been clear, if he had to beg then he begged. John remembered the steep price that had come from screwing up with the Vice President of Colombia, he couldn't risk another colossal mess up like that.

John nodded grimly. “Alright Matt,” he gave in bitterly. “I am sorry for something that was just politics but that you have taken personally.”

Matt's smile widened as he shook his head. “Mr Vice President that sounds insincere,” he scorned mockingly.

John's blue stare blazed with anger and he pointed across the table accusingly. “Damn it Matt, you had shares and you were only against the restriction on gun ownership because it was going to cost you buyers!” John snapped angrily.

Matt leaned across the desk slightly, his eyes continuing to glitter with malice. “And your party wants to push through taxes on fossil fuels why? For the good of the country or for the money? What's one greedy motive to another?” Matt sneered.

John looked away as his he lowered his hand, his blue gaze turning to the window as he swallowed down another angry retort and sighed. He knew Matt was right in a way and he despised it.

“Alright,” John murmured quietly, “alright.”

John turned back to face Matt, all too conscious of Cadence's concerned gaze upon him. “I apologise Senator Whyte for what happened in Texas and I apologise for the loss it cost you.”

Matt nodded and he turned his dark stare up to Cadence once more. “And you Miss McGarry, have you anything to add to that?”

Cadence stared down at the senator with loathing, unable to keep her disgust for him from her face. She wondered how his voters would feel to know how he handled politics and thought sardonically that some might actually approve of his dirty tactics.

“I am sorry senator that knowledge of your gun shares became public knowledge although I am not responsible for it,” her voice was tense as she barely held back her anger from it.

“Aren't you sorry that same knowledge was misused by your boss here?” Matt queried as he gestured to John with one hand. “To humiliate me before our President and to have me support a law I was against?”

“Sure,” Cadence retorted sardonically with a shrug. She was surprised when John turned round sharply in his seat to give her an angry glower.

Cadence wondered why John was giving into this but knew if it was what he wanted then she had to support it much as it pained her. She let her hands slacken by her sides. “I am sorry Senator Whyte for any ill I have caused you,” she remarked calmly.

“That will do,” Matt mused. “Now John, don't forget I want to hear how sincere your need for my support is.”

John turned back to Matt with a neutral expression although it was difficult to keep the ice from his eyes. “Matt we are depending on your support for this tax bill,” he confessed, “which is why I'm here today, to ask,” he paused seeing the look of ire that slipped into Matt's brown stare and considered a correction carefully, “implore,” he corrected bitingly, refusing to use the word beg but unable to keep the hatred from his voice, “you to help us get it through Senate.”

Matt smiled again. “Very good Mr Vice President, you see, a little humility isn't so difficult.” He held out his hand across the table.

With great reluctance, John took the hand and shook it.

“I will support this bill in the Senate,” Matt agreed as he released John's hand. “Now,” his devious smile returned, “let's have a drink to seal the deal.”

John offered a polite smile at this. “Sir, I've a long day ahead, I'll split a water with you,” he remarked with a feigned chirpiness to his voice.

Matt frowned again. “Well it's only one drink but I suppose we are at work.”

Matt stood up and turned round to the wooden cabinets behind him. He lifted the waiting glass jug of water and set it down on his desk along with three glasses..

John stood up and brushed down his jacket as he waited for the senator to pour.

The senator filled the glasses and beckoned to Cadence wordlessly with one finger.

Cadence stared at his hand with fresh revulsion before she walked forward reluctantly, unwilling to earn another glower of disapproval from John. She stopped at the side of the table between the two, keeping closer to John's side as she stared down at the glasses.

Matt plucked up one of the glasses and offered it to Cadence. “I wish it was something a little nicer,” he mused as he smiled at her.

Cadence felt her stomach give an unpleasant roll of protest as she accepted the glass, tensing as her fingertips brushed against Matt's momentarily.

Matt's hand slid around Cadence's and pressed her fingers against the glass. “Got it?” he queried helpfully as he smiled at her.

Cadence felt a thrill of disgust run through her but made herself smile back at him. “Yes,” she retorted calmly.

John stared at Matt's hand angrily and only just resisted the urge to swat it away. He knew the senator was playing a game and trying to get a reaction from them and he'd be damned if he gave it. John instead picked up his own glass and looked to Matt with as much calm as he could muster.

Matt released Cadence's hand and turned his stare back to John. “To making amends,” he said jovially as he lifted the third glass.

John didn't repeat the words, he just drank.

Cadence followed suite, taking a deep gulp of the water. She downed it fast, feeling the same discomfort as John and a desire to get it over and done with.

Cadence set down her empty glass with a small gasp and avoided Matt's gaze as she heard him give a mocking chortle.

“I'll tell the President to raise the bill,” John said in a quiet, sombre tone.

Matt nodded. “Yes, I'm sure I can raise some Republican support for it,” he assured. “I'll see you another time then Mr Vice President,” he nodded and looked to Cadence, “and I most certainly hope you too Miss McGarry.”

“Another time,” John retorted dismissively.

“Bye sir,” Cadence answered stiffly. She turned and headed for the door, pausing as an unexpected hiccup slipped out. She swallowed hard before opening the door and escaping to the cool halls of the Senate.

Matt let out another chuckle as he watched the woman depart.

John followed wordlessly. He was welcome for the Secret Service agents that enveloped them and hopefully blocked his frown from view.

“Well that could've went better,” he grumbled quietly as they walked.

Cadence pushed back some of her hair with a careless fling before her hand darted to her mouth to stifle another hiccup. “It could have gone worse too sir,” she said as she lowered her hand.

When they reached the steps the fresh, icy air hit them. John bundled his coat closer about him and looked at Cadence and her lack of a coat pointedly. He didn't bother to scold her but quickened up the pace to his waiting car.

John was outraged at what he had let Senator Whyte away with but he didn't want to take it out on Cadence. It wasn't her fault she had witnessed John's moment of pathetic grovelling to a Republican but he wondered moodily how he could use her to stoke his ego when looking at her would only remind him of that weak moment.

\---

Jeremy knew when he saw Cadence and John arriving that his interruption was not going to be appreciated. John walked with the face of a thundercloud whilst Cadence kept fidgeting with her hair and raising her hand up and down to her mouth as she walked.

They were back in the bowels of the Eisenhower, safe from any further humiliations hopefully and in a much warmer environment.

“How did it go sir?” Jeremy queried politely as he approached the pair and gazed up at the VP keenly.

“If I ever see another Republican again it will be too soon,” John snarled out.

John immediately mollified his expression, knowing that Jeremy certainly did not deserve to be snapped at.

“Oh.” Jeremy flinched slightly as his stare darted from John to Cadence and back to John again. He glanced at Cadence again as a hiccup escaped her. “Well see about that,” he murmured nervously as he smiled and reached up to rub at his right ear.

John stared down at him in puzzlement. “What is it Jeremy?” he queried calmly.

“There's one here,” Jeremy confessed, “he wants to see Cady,” he explained as his anxious stare darted back to Cadence.

John gave Cadence an accusing glance out of the corner of his bloodshot blue eye. “Why?”

Another hiccup escaped Cadence causing her shoulders to jump up with the movement as she raised her hand to her mouth in her surprise. “Who not why?” she quipped.

Jeremy smiled at her hiccuping. “Congressman Tom Landis,” he explained. “He's waiting outside your office,” he added with a nod.

“Bring him to mine,” John ordered.

“He's not here to see you sir,” Jeremy retorted carefully as he gave John a wary look.

John only just resisted scowling at his press secretary. He raised his hands to his hips slightly and fixed an expression of exasperation upon Jeremy. “He's in the Eisenhower and he is a politician, I am the one he sees first,” he replied sternly.

Jeremy nodded. “Alright.” He shot Cadence a look of apology before darting off again.

Cadence folded her arms and frowned up at John. “Why do you need to see him,” another hiccup slipped out before she added the respectful, “sir?”

John stared back at her serenely trying to hide his paranoid suspicions about this Republican visitor from his face.

“For the reason I just stated,” John remarked calmly, “I'm not having two Republicans undermine me in one day nor do I think it's particularly wise for you to meet with one alone,” he concluded carefully.

“Tom isn't here to undermine you,” Cadence replied defensively.

John's mask of tranquil indifference slipped and he gave her an accusing stare. “Tom is it?”

Cadence blushed before she could help it and turned her angry stare on the floor. “I know him,” she admitted as another hiccup slipped out, “that's why he's here, to talk to me, it's innocent.”

“Well we'll find out,” John grumbled as his sour mood returned.

He turned and started walking towards his office.

“Don't take it out on Tom,” Cadence pleaded as she followed after him. “He's hardly to know what happened with Senator Whyte.”

“No one is to know what happened,” John replied warningly without looking back to the young woman.

He entered his office and moved to occupy his seat behind the desk, pausing first to take off his coat and abandon it on the back of his chair. In here the radiator was on and the temperature was pleasant, cosy even.

Cadence closed the door behind her but stayed opposite the desk looking down at him pleadingly. “John please,” she attempted to appeal to him. Two hiccups followed along with a curse.

John busied himself with pouring out a glass of water. He turned to face her, leaning across the desk to set the glass down for her. “Take a drink,” he ordered calmly.

Cadence frowned down at him, too angry to fear his scorn. “I already did that,” she snapped, “it's what hic...started...hic...this!” She felt her cheeks burn as the hiccups came out in quick successions, causing her torso to jostle with each one.

John gazed up at her serenely, a little concerned for the agitated state she was getting herself into. He had noticed that she was a little quicker to express her emotions, ever since the suicide of that CIA agent she was upset and angered by the most trivial things. He figured she needed therapy to help with her grief but wasn't getting any as a defiance to her father who she was still holding partly responsible for the troubled agent's death. John hadn't raised the topic with Cadence, he didn't want blamed as well, after all he had met with the disturbed young man with Leo and Jed, a fact Cadence seemed to be conveniently forgetting and John didn't want to remind her of it.

“Cady, take some water,” John ordered.

“John you're not tarring Tom with the same brush, he didn't make you beg.”

John's eyes flashed with anger. “Don't,” he snapped sternly as he pointed up at her warningly.

The door knocked before Jeremy opened it and peered in uneasily. “I have the congressman here,” he said quietly.

“Send him in,” John ordered. He had lowered his hand but the rage remained in his eyes.

Cadence, who had been facing John down unflinchingly, looked back anxiously as the door was opened fully for Jeremy to gesture Tom Landis into the room.

When Tom entered with a disarming smile, Cadence suddenly became very conscious of her appearance. She fumbled to smooth down her hair with her fingertips as she stared over at the congressman.

John watched as Cadence struggled to neaten her hair before reaching down to her brown jacket in an attempt to tug out the creases. He knew he should have found it amusing but instead he was irritated by her awkward display.

Tom Landis entered dressed for the cold weather in a dark navy coat with a woollen, crimson scarf just visible at the open collar. He paused to give Jeremy a murmur of thanks, smiling as he offered out a hand to shake Jeremy's before the door was closed behind him sealing him in enemy territory.

“Congressman Landis is it?” John queried politely. “Why have you called at the Eisenhower today?” He remained sitting, telling himself firmly that he wasn't going to pander to another Republican today.

Cadence turned a frown on John. She knew Tom was stuck now, if he said he wasn't here to see the Vice President while standing in his office it looked bad but if he said he was here for that then he would obviously be lying.

“Good afternoon-” Tom hesitated in his greeting as Cadence let out a hiccup. His pale blue gaze slid in her direction curiously before returning to the Vice President. “Mr Vice President,” Tom concluded with a sincere politeness as he stepped forward. “Unfortunately, I'm not high enough in my party yet to be attempting favours with the Vice President,” he said apologetically. He paused as Cadence let out another trinity of hiccups and looked her way again.

Tom gave a small, slightly crooked smile as Cadence's cheeks blazed crimson and she attempted to muffle her hiccups with the palm of her hand.

“My purpose is simple I'm afraid,” Tom continued as he turned his stare back to John, “I'm here to ask for a moment of your Deputy of Public Relations' time, if you can spare her for a few minutes please sir.”

Cadence stared at Tom in surprise and awe. She had no idea why he was here, sure she'd grasped that it was to talk to her but why, and why here and now she couldn't guess at.

John had mustered up a charming, empty smile but the displeasure remained in his blue stare. “Why would you like to talk to Cadence?” he demanded. He held up a hand before Cadence could snap that it was personal and offered a false look of apology to Tom. “I have to look out for my staff and Cadence has been misled before,” he cocked his head slightly and gave a small smile, “I would not want to risk handing her over to a Republican without questioning his motives first.”

Cadence shot John a glance of fury before turning her own stare of apology onto Tom. Another hiccup slipped out instead of the protest she'd planned. She knew John wasn't being unpleasant simply because Tom was a Republican.

“I'm not here as a Republican,” Tom confessed. He gave John a bright smile, not offended by John's accusation. “I'm here to discuss dinner.” As Tom answered his pale blue gaze returned to Cadence and he smiled.

“Dinner?” Cadence echoed dumbly. She remembered Mallory's earlier promise to uncover the name of her mystery man and realised that Mallory had been successful in that matter.

Tom nodded. “Can I talk to you privately about it?” he quipped. He glanced back to the Vice President apologetically.

Cadence started to hiccup again.

“Cady take some water,” John ordered again as he gestured to the glass.

Cadence moved to obey, hastening up to the desk before she reached for the waiting glass.

“Are you okay?” Tom pried with a look of concern.

John's eyes flashed up to him, curious as he stayed silent, wondering at the congressman's worry for the woman.

“Fine,” Cadence murmured after gulping down some water, “it's just the hiccups. I'm really busy today Tom.” She fell silent and looked to John imploringly, wondering if he would let her slip off to talk to Tom.

John glimpsed the plea in Cadence's stare before she turned a calm stare on Tom. He wondered how well Tom knew her and what role he filled in her life.

The brightness dimmed in Tom's eyes and his stare darted from the Vice President to Cadence again. “Right,” he said quietly with a flash of a small, apologetic smile, “it was a bad idea coming here to disturb you at work but I didn't want you to wonder about dinner and worry about whether I'd show up.”

John's eyes widened slightly at this, he wasn't entirely sure what the congressman was babbling about and knew he didn't like the idea of it.

Cadence stared back at Tom in surprise. “Were you going to show up?” she queried.

“I am going to show up,” Tom corrected as he offered her another small smile.

Cadence was about to reply but another hiccup slipped out. She finished the glass of water and sighed in frustration.

John figured he had a few options- order the congressman out, which was definitely most preferable or send the pair out to finish their conversation.

“Congressman,” John remarked authoritatively.

Tom turned to the Vice President questioningly.

John stood up and beckoned the man over calmly with one hand and a polite stare.

Tom stepped forward obediently until he was beside Cadence, standing opposite the Vice President and a noticeable couple of inches shorter than him.

“You and Cadence can go and talk about dinner,” John addressed him a quiet voice, “but should you speak of anything resembling politics or should this be some bizarre method of yours to gain an insight into what this government is doing I will guarantee you are not welcome again,” he warned.

“I'm not welcome here anyway,” John joked.

John fixed a threatening smile on his face. “I didn't say here,” he remarked coolly.

“Mr Vice President,” Cadence began a protest but John raised his hand again, ordering her to silence with the gesture.

“Cadence, show him to your office,” John ordered bluntly.

Cadence nodded and headed for the door. She opened it and glanced back to make sure Tom was following.

“Have a good day sir,” Tom remarked politely with a nod to John.

“Oh I don't think that's possible now,” John retorted with sardonic smile.

Tom followed after Cadence, exiting to two waiting Secret Service agents.

Once the pair were gone and out of hearing, John let out a loud curse. “God damn it!” He shoved his paperwork away violently causing a few sheets to flutter harmlessly to the floor. “God damn it,” he repeated quietly.

John dug his elbows into the desk as he raised both hands up to push through his dark hair. He wondered despairingly how it was that not one but two Republicans had managed to screw up his day.

Tom and Cadence headed through a couple of busy corridors earning the expected looks of curiosity, intrigue and suspicion before reaching Cadence's office.

The young woman glanced about it awkwardly before looking to Tom apologetically. “I only have one chair.”

Tom smiled back. “I'm fine with standing.

Cadence nodded as she leaned back on her desk, pausing to glance down as her hand brushed against paper. She blushed faintly as she saw it was an origami squirrel. There was a small collection of origami animals gathering on her desk. She turned her stare back up to the congressman.

“Tom, do you think...maybe,” Cadence murmured, “that we could have a normal date one day?”

Tom smiled over at her. “I don't think that happens with you, if it did I wouldn't be agreeing to dinner with you tonight at the White House.”

“The White House?” Cadence repeated in surprise. She stood upright from her desk with wide eyes. “Where did you hear that?”

Tom nodded. “From Josh and I'm quite prepared to believe it's a joke at my expense,” he murmured chirpily.

“Well that's probable,” Cadence murmured as she continued to stare at him in shock. “I haven't even heard about it yet, Mal said dinner would be at Paradiso Stellato. Wait, why does Josh know about this?” She looked at Tom in confusion.

Tom shrugged. “I don't know but he's the one who told me about it.”

“Hmm,” she rapped her fingernails on the edge of her desk, “I'm starting to think you are being pranked. You said you were going but why would you agree to dinner in the Democratic Leader's territory?” she queried.

Tom smiled at Cadence again, the right corner of his mouth lifting as he did, amused by the question and her title for Jed. He could tell she was still mad with the President.

“I only ever seem to get to see you in the enemy's territory under unusual circumstances,” he explained. “If it's what I have to do then fine.”

Tom glanced at his watch and then back to Cadence. “I've got to get back to work but, like I said, I didn't want you to wonder if I was going to dinner. If you are going, I am.”

Cadence blinked as she considered her response. “I'm not sure, I think I need to hear from Mallory that this isn't a prank and also how and why the plans got so dramatically changed.”

Tom nodded agreeably. “Well, Cady look, I don't care where or what dinner is, exempting fish since I hate it, I just want to have a date with you but please consider that the President might consider you're refusing because the Republican made you do it.”

“The...the President?” Cadence felt fresh surprise rise inside her. “Why would he care?”

Tom gave another smile but his pale eyes were glinting with unease now. “Maybe I do need that seat,” he murmured dryly.

\---

Cadence glanced at her clock, it read just after seven. It had been hours since the horrors of this afternoon with Senator Whyte and the awkwardness of Tom and John meeting but her stomach was still rolling with nerves. She was angry and anxious, despite having insisted that she wasn't letting the President hijack dinner and that she definitely wasn't going to the White House she was.

Tom's innocent suggestion that he might get blamed for her refusal had persuaded her into it. Cadence had tried to reason with Tom that everyone knew she was mad with the President and her father and the White House as a regime but Tom had just smiled and shook his head, stating calmly that he would make the perfect scapegoat for all that. He admitted that Josh had told him that everyone was interested in meeting the infamous Republican now and that if he failed to show up it would be another black mark against him and if Cadence wasn't going then Tom would be failing to show up. Cadence had called it blackmail but Tom had laughed and joked that surely she knew it was the Republican way since they were villains after all.

She fidgeted with her diamond teardrop earrings, wondering if they were too much as she glanced at them in her bathroom mirror. She knew dinner would be formal despite a frustrated Mallory murmuring that it wouldn't be. Mallory was just as happy with the venue change as Cadence but determined that her plans to have a nice pre-Christmas dinner with the girls and their partners was not getting ruined by Jed Bartlet's scheming. Mallory had promised that despite what Cadence thought, Cadence's rage would not compare to Zoey's.

Dinner was at eight, almost an hour away but Cadence was already full of worry and doubt. What if Tom got cold feet? He was being asked to jump into fire essentially. Cadence wouldn't blame him but she worried that he wouldn't let her know if it was a last minute decision. She winced feeling her chest tighten slightly with her panic and became conscious that her dress was too tight. Her hand stretched up to the bust but there was no slackening it, it was in the design.

Cadence sucked in a deep breath as she moved out of her bathroom, figuring she'd better sit down in the living room and try to calm down. She told herself that surely Tom would at least call, he had said it was why he'd shown up at her work today, so she wouldn't be left wondering. She realised guiltily that she had never called him the last time, letting him wonder why she hadn't bothered to arrange a date. She let out a gasp for air as she reached the couch. She was panicking now. What if he didn't call? She'd deserve it but that wouldn't stop her worrying. What if the President brought up Agent Sparks? What if someone else did? What if she said something inappropriate because her anger got the better of her? The press secretary C.J Cregg was going to be there and Sam's boss, Toby Ziegler, all the President's closest people judging her and waiting for the next screw up.

Cadence reached out to the box of tissues on her coffee table and snatched out a few. She started to twist and bend them, determined to distract herself with something else.

What if just about everyone insulted Tom and put him off her? She'd deserve that too probably but it would still hurt. She liked him, it seemed she could unintentionally blunder and embarrass herself as much as possible and he still seemed interested in her. He wasn't as serious or egotistical as John and so far he seemed open and honest unlike Benny, although Cadence was a little wary given Tom was a politician, but most of all he was able to make her smile so effortlessly. Tom was happy to be seen with her publicly, hell he was happy to sit on the floor of the White House lobby for the public to see just to try and console her.

Cadence paused as she realised what she was forming with the tissues- three tissue mounds shaped like semi-circles and one forth one, straight with a bend at the top to indicate a head. She propped them up against the tissue box and tensed as her door was knocked.

She glanced to the door warily, conscious that she didn't have Agent Casper or his minions anymore. She swallowed hard as the nervous tightness in her chest returned.

“Cady, it's Tom.”

Surprised but relieved, Cadence rose from the seat until the infernal anxiety returned. What if he was here to reject her in person?” She huffed in a short breath and then another. Her chest was still tight.

Cadence opened the door and smiled as she took in the congressman.

Tom had donned a white tuxedo dinner suit for the evening, designer of course with a silk bow tie that was a soft sable against the white shirt.

“You're going,” Cadence marvelled in surprise.

Tom nodded. “Of course.” He gestured down to himself. “Do you think I dress like this normally out of the senate?”

Cadence shrugged as her panic waned and she gained some confidence. “Well you could, I haven't seen you out of work.”

“No, I don't think I'm out of it much,” he admitted. “You look beautiful, makes it worth going to humiliation.”

The word sent a fresh thrill of panic through Cadence and she tensed and sucked in a deep gulp of air.

“Cady?” Tom looked at her with worry.

Cadence waved off his concern as she stepped back to grant him entry to her modest apartment. “I...do you need to come in?” she queried awkwardly. “I mean is there a car waiting?”

“There is,” Tom retorted calmly, “and whilst he can keep waiting I don't have to come in if you don't want to.” Her sky blue stare darted over her trying to pry out the cause for her uneasiness.

Cadence glanced over shoulder before giving Tom an apologetic look. “Sorry, it's just it's...a dump,” she concluded bluntly.

Tom gave her another of his lopsided smiles. “Cady I know I'm a Republican but I swear I'm not a snob.”

She nodded and gestured him in reluctantly. “Do you want coffee or something?” she queried.

“I'm fine,” he assured.

Tom stepped up to the table and eyed the tissue formed sea serpent shape with mirth. He pointed down to it and gave Cadence an amused look. “Which one is this? Nessie, Chessie, Tessie, Bessie?”

Cadence smiled back. “Chessie of course, he might be a knock off Nessie but he has gone up in my world anyway.”

“Good, we're wearing down the non-believers one by one then,” Tom teased.

“Well this is the living room, obviously,” Cadence said, “the kitchen is just through there, nothing fancy,” she added as she gestured to the slightly ajar kitchen door with one hand. She headed to the hall that led to the bathroom and winced as she saw she had left the door wide open. “Um the bathroom,” she explained awkwardly.

Tom glanced in and a chuckle escaped him. “Rubber ducks huh?” he quipped.

“Yeah, I had more when I was younger but I lost them over the years,” Cadence confessed.

Tom nodded. “Yes, sometimes they have to get out there and explore the big, wide, wet world.”

Cadence glanced back at him with a smile and shook her head. “You're very odd for a congressman,” she mused as she kept walking.

“Odd for a congressman or odd for a Republican one? Some people think there's a big difference,” Tom retorted.

Cadence shrugged her shoulders lightly before opening the door to her bedroom and stepping in. “Just odd,” she said happily.

Cadence gestured about her room with a half-hearted wave of her hands. “This is where I sometimes, if I'm really, really lucky, sleep,” she joked.

Tom's gaze darted over the framed photograph of a raccoon on a tarmac street beside another framed photograph of one in a zoo inhabitant. Beside the latter was a snippet of a newspaper article with a grainy photograph of the Vice President holding a pet carrier. He smiled as he spied the raccoon teddy at the top of the bed between two pillows.

“Who's that little guy or girl?” he queried as he gestured to the stuffed animal.

Cadence glanced over to the raccoon and then back to Tom. “Rocco.”

“Of course. So, you've a thing for raccoons?”

“You could say that,” she confessed. “What animal do you like?”

“Always liked seeing the big cats at the zoo and I've got some sea horses in my apartment.”

“Sea horses? Seriously?” Cadence marvelled at him in disbelief.

Tom nodded happily. “Yes, little memory of home, they are harder to keep alive than you'd think and live a lot better than I do. I'll show you them sometime.”

Cadence smiled. “I'd like that,” she admitted quietly.

Cadence looked to the clock on her bedside table, it was half seven, she knew they needed to go but she was reluctant to head towards chaos. It was nice having a moment alone with Tom, an odd sort of pleasurable moment with someone she hadn't known for a long time. With John it had passionate but rushed and secretive, it had felt dirty and hollow, good sure, sexually, but unfulfilling otherwise. John wasn't willing to give her commitment and with him it always had to be a snatched moment of secrecy, she couldn't go to him for comfort unless he was free.

Cadence stepped up to Tom causing him to stare down at her calmly, still as he waited for her to decide what to do.

She stretched up to him and pressed her mouth against his, closing her eyes as she surprised them both with a kiss.

Tom reciprocated the gesture, keeping it chaste as he tasted her warmth and breathed in a sweet, vanilla based perfume. When they broke he gave her another smile as his pale blue eyes filled with delight.

“Can I call you my girlfriend publicly now?” he queried happily. “I know it's going to piss off just about everybody but I'd be happy.”

Cadence studied his gaze and was surprised by the sincerity there as she realised he really would be happy. “What if the President and his people insult you tonight?” she pried. “Or make fun of you? Or whatever it is they must have planned.”

“Then everyone probably just calls me your Republican boyfriend instead of just your boyfriend but I can live with that.”

Cadence laughed. “Well okay then. Although, they probably won't call me your Democrat girlfriend, more likely there's going to be fun adjectives like crazy, traitorous, lucky and unlucky, they can never agree on that one, flustered as one journalist said and so on.”

“Well we can all agree you're certainly not boring,” Tom teased.

He took both her hands in his and rang his fingers over her knuckles gently before leaning down slightly to give her another light kiss on the lips. “The only thing that is really going to upset tonight,” he murmured quietly into her right ear, “is fish on the menu.”


	36. Fine Dining

Cadence had known it would be difficult stepping into the prestigious State Dining Room, she had also known that all eyes would be upon her and her companion. Yet knowing and expecting all this did damn all to prepare her to deal with it. Of course she and Tom were last to arrive, meaning everyone else was already seated to look at them. Most had the advantage of working here and Cadence suspected they probably had simply changed at their work before heading for the dining room but she had still dared to hope that Mallory or Zoey might arrive after her.

Neither Tom nor Cadence was able to appreciate the beauty of the room, too fixated on the occupants staring up at them with curious eyes given an enhanced element of menace from the glow of the candelabras acting as centrepieces on the table.

“A white tux,” C.J Cregg was the first to speak, “well...that's new,” she concluded awkwardly with a smile to match.

“Certainly stands out,” Toby grumbled to the table. Like every other male seated at the long mahogany table he was in a black dining suit.

“Well I figured I was standing out no matter what,” Tom mused with a grin, “so no point in trying to blend in.”

Josh smiled back at this, impressed with both Tom's response and his bold wardrobe choice.

The President, appropriately seated at the head of the table, stood up with a wide smile for Tom and Cadence.

“Good evening,” he greeted brightly. “Now, let's get the introductions out of the way quickly. I'm the President of the United States, Jed Bartlet, in case you weren't aware,” he jested. “This lovely woman to my left is, as some might say, my better half the First Lady Abigail Bartlet.”

Cadence tensed at the introduction. She hadn't noticed Abbey until now and felt intimidated by her presence, immediately wondering if the First Lady was here as her mother's spy.

Tom glanced at Cadence curiously as he felt her grip on his hand tighten.

“Abbey, Jed,” Abbey scorned quickly as she looked up at her husband with scorn, “tell the nice young man to call me Abbey.” Abbey flashed a friendly smile to Tom and Cadence.

“He's not nice,” Toby grumbled as he continued to frown at the table and pressed his hands into his temples. “You don't know he's nice.”

Charlie shook his head disapprovingly at the man.

“He's not really young either,” C.J murmured. “I mean Charlie and Zoey are young,” she added hastily as she saw Mallory's look of annoyance. She gestured to the young couple with one hand to emphasise her point.

“He's young to me,” Abbey said sternly, “and nice until proven otherwise.”  
Tom's lopsided grin was back but nervous this time as his pale blue eyes darted over his rapt audience. To him the only friendly face was Josh.

“Anyway, to my right, my daughter Zoey, rebellious and disobedient as all daughters are,” Jed mused, “beside her is my aide Charlie Young, what he is to Zoey I shall not say for I would rather not confirm that yet.”

“Dad!” Zoey protested as she raised a hand to her brow and shook her head into it.

Cadence gave a small smile at Zoey's display of embarrassment. She thought Zoey was looking radiant tonight and older than her seventeen years in a dark purple dress with short frilled sleeves and a modest square cut at the bust that had a sheer layer to subtly conceal it.

“Continuing on,” Jed said as he ignored Zoey's complaint, “beside my radiant wife we have the less radiant Toby Ziegler our Communications Director. Beside Toby is his Deputy Sam Seaborne, opposite Sam is the beautiful Mallory, sometimes O'Brien, sometimes McGarry as the mood suits her.”

Mallory shook her head chidingly at Jed even as she smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She looked elegant tonight in a vibrant evening gown of emerald green.

“Beside Mallory,” Jed continued the introductions, “is the also lovely Claudia Jean Cregg, our Press Secretary, better known as C.J, and rounding up our little party is Joshua Lyman opposite C.J,” Jed concluded with a wave in Josh's direction. “I believe you've met him.”

Jed gestured to Tom who was looking to the President obediently. “Now then, although we know it, let's be proper about this and have your name.”

“Tom Landis,” Tom answered quickly.

“Of?”

“Chesapeake.”

“What's your district?” Jed queried with an encouraging smile.

“Fourth congressional sir, Virginia,” Tom retorted calmly.

“You promised no politics sir,” Mallory chided Jed as she gave him a disapproval stare.

Sam winced when Mallory's fiery stare fell upon him for the umpteenth time. Given they hadn't even had their starters yet, Sam was dreading how the rest of the evening would go. He gave Mallory a nervous, apologetic smile before reaching for his beer. It didn't matter how many apologies he had given or how sincere they had all been, Mallory's verbal tirade of anger had been relentless along with her firm promise that no matter how grand and glorious dinner was Sam would certainly not be getting an invite for coffee at Mallory's house after.

“Sir,” Cadence interrupted sharply, “can we sit?”

Jed nodded and smiled back at the young woman. “Of course.”

Cadence dismissed the smile and looked to the table instead as she led Tom towards it. Her dark indigo dress swished softly with each step. She had considered wearing a black dress instead, a defiant symbol of mourning for the late Agent Sparks but she didn't want to start her relationship with Tom in a spiteful show of angry grief for a complicated ex-lover.

“So Tom,” Jed insisted on continuing the conversation despite Cadence's hostility and Mallory's objection, “we know you're a congressman but what's your background? College? Obviously not married but have you been?”

“Sir please!” Cadence protested angrily as her cheeks flushed slightly.

Tom let out a small chuckle. “I attended Baltimore University sir and majored in American History and Politics.”

Josh looked intrigued at this and wondered if it explained Tom's vested interest in preserving the history of Richmond- the good, the bad and the ugly.

“And I haven't been married,” Tom added as he released Cadence's hand to take a seat.

On the one hand the table presented an inviting scene- the room was warm and bright, sprigs of holly on the table surrounding the red candles added a subtle festive atmosphere and there was an odour of nutmeg and gingerbread in the air. On the other hand, almost every face at the table was turned to Tom offering him prying, curious stares and a suggestion of gleeful mischief in their features, the unspoken promise to humiliate him if he gave them even the slightest opportunity.

Tom purposely looked to one of the few faces that seemed slightly friendly and was glad it was the person he had to sit beside- Josh Lyman.

Josh gave Tom a welcoming smile as the congressman sat down. He determined that he would, unlike Toby, attempt friendliness tonight. He admired Tom for actually showing up and felt the man desired some pleasantries for that feat alone.

“How old are you anyway Tom?” Jed continued to pry.

“Jed let the poor man get a drink first,” Abbey scolded him as she lifted her wine glass. “Your prying on behalf of Leo is as transparent as polished glass. Cady, we're having sparkling white dear, will you have the same?” she queried sweetly as she smiled down the table to the cringing woman.

“Yes, thank-you,” Cadence retorted gratefully. She grimaced and gave Tom an apologetic glance.

“And what about Tom, Abbey?” Jed queried as he sat back down and gestured down the table with one hand, “aren't you going to ask him?” He smiled in Tom's direction. “Do you drink Tom? And if you do, how often? We're particular on that around here.”

“Yes, whiskey's always good on a plane when in despair,” Toby murmured darkly.

Josh gave Tom a sympathetic smile and held up his hand to block his face from view from the top end of the table. “Just say beer,” he mouthed to his companion quietly, “we're all drinking it.” He pointed with one finger to the pint at his table. “C.J wanted to drink from the bottle but Abbey's strict about that and persuaded her to wine, beer's fine for us though,” Josh added with a grin.

Tom nodded nervously, aware of the silence hanging on the air with regards to the question. He leaned forward so that he and Jed could see each other better.

“I drink sometimes,” Tom answered carefully. “Beer is fine, whatever everyone else is having.”

Jed nodded. “Hmm vague and careful Tom, very good.”

“For goodness sakes Jed, leave the man alone we haven't even had the starter yet,” Abbey chided. “At this rate you'll have him scared off before the second course.”

“Will he last that long?” Toby pondered sardonically in a low voice.

Charlie rolled his eyes as he gave a small smile, amused as he wondered if Toby was intentionally talking aloud or entirely unaware that he was voicing every negative thought he had.

“Second course?” Cadence echoed as she leaned over the table to spy out Abbey. “Um how many courses are there exactly?”

Abbey smiled back at her. “Well we didn't want to overwhelm the cook since it's just us few so we trimmed a few courses, we've settled for five.”

Cadence looked confused. “Five? How is that less exactly?”

Zoey giggled when she noticed Charlie shared Cadence's bewilderment. She had initially been mad at the idea of dinner here but she had to concede that it wasn't often she got to dine with both her parents these days and the idea of meeting Cadence's secret boyfriend made the sacrifice of missing out on a more normal dinner worth it.

“I agree,” Charlie piped up as he glanced over to Zoey, “five does seem like a lot.”

Abbey waved off their concerns. “It won't be, they're not all the same size.”

The waiter came and Abbey requested drinks for Cadence and Tom.

The starter arrived quickly after the drinks much to everyone's relief. Cadence glanced at Tom sympathetically for the second time as they were served up a fancy spread of prawns.

Tom hid his displeasure and tried to make an effort despite his distaste for seafood. He hoped if he ate enough of the salad and dressing he could be forgiven for leaving the bulk of the meat.

C.J glanced across to Tom and saw that his forkful contained only lettuce. “The meat is the best part of this, Tom,” she insisted, “don't waste your time on the garnish,” she scolded.

Tom winced slightly even as he forced another smile but he didn't respond, opting to chew pointedly on the lettuce instead.

Mallory leaned forward and turned a brilliant smile onto Tom, determined to talk him. “Tom, I'm Mallory, Cadence's older sister,” she introduced.

Tom gave her a small smile in response as he glanced over to her. “Good evening Mallory,” he retorted politely. “Cadence mentioned you to me, a very curious sister she said,” he added teasingly.

Mallory gave a giggle at this.“Hmm well she's gone out of her way to not mention you,” she retorted mockingly as she gave Cadence a teasing look, sensing her sister's glower before she saw it. She turned her curious stare back to Tom. “So, how did you two meet and are you dating?” she pried.

Tom nodded as he grinned over at Cadence. His lopsided smile filled her with warmth and she smiled despite her annoyance at everyone's prying.

“We are dating and we met through Josh in a roundabout way,” Tom explained.

Josh set down his cutlery suddenly with a loud clatter and turned his head up to the ceiling pointedly. “Please don't say that,” he pleaded quietly.

“Wait, through Josh?” C.J honed in on that point as she stared tauntingly over at Josh. “Does Leo know that? And if he doesn't can I tell him?” She gave a gleeful smile at this.

Tom looked to Josh in confusion before giving another teasing smile. “I don't know what Mr. McGarry does or does not know about me,” he confessed. “Josh would it help if I said I'm grateful to you?” he queried in a sympathetic manner. He flashed another smile over at Cadence. “Because I am.”

“Oh that's so cute!” Mallory marvelled with a gleeful stare.

Sam snickered softly at this whilst Toby made a noise of revulsion before reaching out to his beer and taking a deep gulp.

“Leo won't find it cute,” Jed murmured under his breath as he gave Abbey a glance out of the corner of his eye.

Abbey ignored her husband's look of scorn and reached tactfully for her wine glass.

“So,” Jed interrupted the diners loudly, “where is everyone spending Christmas? Cady, I believe the Vice has you busy with all his appearances,” he added almost in a sneer.

Cadence glanced up at the table to Jed unsure if he was making a jibe or a genuine observation. She nodded. “Yes sir, we have a few engagements booked leading up to the holidays. He'll be visiting his home town just before Christmas Eve to offer some support to their charity drive and to hang a decoration on the tree, it's good luck,” she added hastily, aware of how cheesy it sounded.

“Hmm well I think it's a little late for that, he's flogging a dead horse going to Texas. He couldn't win it for the election when they were meant to like him,” Jed grumbled. “Now the state's almost entirely Republican, one took John's seat in the senate, and I don't even know the name of the Democrat congressmen there they've done so little for us.”

“It always was predominantly that way sir,” Cadence retorted coolly.

“Yes but John did little to stave off the rise and after his encounters with Senator Whyte, well he'd be better hanging baubles on a different tree,” Jed concluded sardonically as he felt his wife's disapproving gaze upon him.

Toby leaned down the table, seeking out Tom before he queried bluntly, “why do you think Texas supports the Republicans so strongly Tom? Is it the lax gun laws you all favour? You know,” he sneered as he waved his hand around, “this whole you can shoot me so long as I as an individual have the right to bear arms so I can shoot you back, a grand demonstration of equality even as you push the right of the individual because then we're both in the morgue with bullet wounds instead of one of us.”

Tom set his cutlery down calmly and stared down at his plate. “I do not support lax gun laws,” he retorted sharply, surprising the others with his angry tone.

Toby shrugged. “My mistake,” he retorted unapologetically, “it's just leaving poor people to die because you don't understand their welfare needs to come from taxes you claim are bad because you think there's a magic money tree to pay for everything,” he sneered, his voice growing louder with each word.

“Toby,” Josh groaned out his name as he pushed his hands up into his curls.

“We're having dinner, be nice,” Sam pleaded as he gave his boss an encouraging smile, “I know you can Toby.”

“You said no politics, sir,” Mallory remarked angrily as she let Jed see her heated gaze.

“Right, right, I apologise,” Jed said, although he didn't sound sincere. “Let's try a different topic, who are you spending Christmas with this year Tom?” he quipped with a smile. “Parents? Siblings?Aunts? Uncles? Cousins?”

Josh turned his slightly concerned stare on Tom when he heard the muted noise of liquid splashing. Hearing a second droplet hit onto porcelain, Josh looked down to Tom's plate where two crimson droplets stood out in stark contrast to the white plate edge they stained.

Josh stared down at the crimson stain with a glassy stare as he remembered staring down and seeing red just like it bloom from his chest. There had been confusion before the pain had flooded through him letting him know that the red was a warning sign of the danger he was in.

Cadence was staring over at Tom with guilt and worry but his head was bowed so she couldn't see the telltale stain of red yet.

“Tom?” Josh didn't know what to ask. When the congressman didn't move, Josh fumbled for his linen napkin and pushed it over to Tom. He wanted the red to be gone, he couldn't visit Roslyn again, not tonight.

Tom blinked as the napkin suddenly came into his vision as it was sloppily pushed half onto his plate.

“My parents and sister are deceased,” Tom retorted in a forced calm, “I have a nephew but I don't see him much, he lives with his grandparents.”

Tom snatched up the napkin, stood up quickly from the table and walked away wordlessly.

Cadence pushed back her chair and rose to hurry after him.

“Well done Jed, it only took you thirty minutes to humiliate and insult the poor man that's got to be a record,” Abbey chided her husband sardonically.

“This is why dinner was meant to be private,” Mallory said heatedly as she gave Sam another glower, blaming him as much as Toby and Jed for the predicament.

“You didn't help Toby,” Sam scolded his superior, “he's here as Cadence's boyfriend not a Republican.”

“Oh, did he leave his Republican jacket on the coat stand on his way in?” Toby snapped sarcastically as he glared back at Sam. “I wasn't aware we could take off our allegiances and forget them at dinner parties!” He smacked one hand down on the table for emphasis before suddenly remembering the company he was in. He held up a hand before he could be admonished. “I apologise, I do,” he said as he stared over to the President and the First Lady.

“Apologise to him Toby,” Jed said quietly as he pointed in the direction Tom had gone. Hearing the small 'hmm' Abbey gave that was the equivalent to an elbow nudge of scorn, Jed added quickly, “we both owe him an apology. I'll lead you follow.”

“That is the first sensible thing you've said all evening,” Abbey remarked sharply.

Jed rose from the table and walked in the direction Tom and Cadence had gone.

Realising from the glowers he was getting that it was an order, Toby stood reluctantly and followed after Jed.

“Well, are we done with the first course at least?” Abbey queried the others as she gave the table a wide smile.

C.J gestured out to Tom's plate. “Well Tom left some...” C.J trailed off as she realised it sounded like she was telling tales when really she was just concerned that Tom might have wanted his prawns. She noticed that most of the salad was gone and what remained he had attempted to push his prawns under. “What's the main course?” she quipped.

“Fish, why?” Abbey retorted.

“Is it too late to get that changed?” C.J queried as she looked back to Abbey.

“Why would we do that?” Abbey queried with a look of puzzlement.

C.J gave a small, awkward smile. “I don't think Congressman Landis er Tom likes seafood, at least he definitely doesn't like prawns, I mean maybe it's just shellfish,” she added with a shrug, “but, well, did anyone ask him?”

“Oh for heaven's sakes!” Abbey exclaimed. She downed her wine glass before standing up and surveying the table with all the sternness of a general. “Alright people, we are only one course in and we are going to salvage this, Jed's hosting skills may have all the tact and appeal of a circus run by monkeys but my hosting skills are not going to be tarnished by his lack of-” She paused as Josh started snickering.

Abbey pressed her hands down on the table and narrowed her eyes slightly as Josh continued to chuckle. “Josh what is it?” she snapped impatiently.

“Nothing, I'm sorry,” he glanced at her with a smile as his dark eyes sparkled with mirth, “I just think a circus run by monkeys would be something to see.”

Sam was smiling too at the thought of a monkey run circus.

Abbey suppressed a sigh. “People we are going to make this dinner work,” she insisted. “Now, will anyone object to chicken?”

There was silence.

“No? Good, I have some changes to insist upon in the kitchen.”

Abbey walked away from the table briskly with an elegance C.J admired as she wondered if she would ever be able to convey such grace when in a hurry instead of appearing as a panicked giraffe. She always considered her job tough but knew the First Lady had it harder and yet somehow Abbey Bartlet always made it look effortless.

“I hope Tom comes back,” Zoey piped up quietly. “He does seem nice, doesn't he?” She gazed over at Mallory for a response.

Mallory was silent, still caught up in trying to digest Tom's sad revelation about his family.

Josh wondered a little about it too although his manner was much more detached, perhaps because he could relate, his father and sister were both dead and he had spent a lot of time suppressing the grief and guilt over those losses. The side effect of this unhealthy suppression was a nervous energy as he ran about constantly anticipating and evading disaster acting as if he stopped for just a moment's breath someone close to him would die. To think of Tom's losses only invited Josh to think on his own and he was not going to do it, so he continued to smile at the thought of monkeys running a circus and pointedly avoided looking at the two blots of imperfect scarlet on the plate beside him.

“He'll come back,” Sam said reassuringly. “I'm sure he would have expected something like this before he came.” He gave Mallory a hopeful smile but she refused to look his way.

“It might have been a nice change to defy expectations,” Charlie lamented softly. Feeling Zoey's disapproving gaze upon him he added stubbornly, “well it would have.”

Tom realised he didn't know where he was going or where he wanted to go to just seconds after leaving the table. He figured a bathroom would do but he wasn't about to retreat to the table to ask the Democrats for directions. He headed through the door at the end of the room and escaped into a mercifully deserted hallway.

Hearing the door open almost immediately after his escape had Tom glancing back despairingly before he saw Cadence. He now had the napkin up to his nose and the weak smile he gave was lost behind its crimson stained creases.

“I'm sorry Tom,” Cadence said sincerely as she stared at him apologetically.

“I'm the one who chose to wear white,” he muttered as he pressed the handkerchief closer to his nostrils, acutely aware that it wasn't doing much good.

“We can go,” she offered quickly, “that is, if you even want to go with me. I should have defended you better.”

Tom stared at her in surprise. “One bad starter and you think I want to leave you, why is that?” he marvelled. “Cady I'm here to be with you, I already told you I don't care much where we are, the point is that we're together.”

Cadence smiled at this. “Well we can certainly do better than a dinner where you're insulted with every question.”

Cadence stepped forward and looked up at Tom curiously. “Can I help with that?” she offered. She reached up to the napkin.

Tom didn't expect there was much the young woman could do but he appreciated her effort so he surrendered the bloodstained cloth to her.

Cadence dabbed at Tom's nostrils gently, moving around them as she kept dabbing quickly. “Do you get nosebleeds often?” she pried.

“The odd time,” he admitted, “they come and go.”

Cadence tensed as she heard the door open behind her and glanced over her shoulder accusingly at the sound. Her heavy set frown remained as she saw the President emerge followed by a stubborn faced Toby.

“Coming to add some more insults to the injury?” she queried sarcastically.

“Now Cady there's no need,” Jed chided her, “we are here to make amends.”

Jed paused, hands behind his back momentarily as he drew himself upright and faced Tom with a stubborn calm to match Toby's, acutely aware that although he was somewhat in the wrong his desire to apologise came mostly from fear of Abbey rather than guilt.

“Tom I apologise,” he said stiffly, “as a host not as the President, we don't need your Republican friends getting that impression,” he added dryly.

Cadence sighed. “Sir do it right or not at all,” she scorned. “Tom didn't bring up the politics, you two did.”

Jed frowned at her. “You know you used to be sweet when you were younger, what happened?” he grumbled.

Cadence ignored him as Tom seized the napkin back from her and gave his nostrils a final rub with it before lowering it so he could face the President.

“Tom I am sorry,” Jed offered a more sincere apology. “The truth is I haven't seen my girls for a while and I figured even it meant having a Republican in my midst for one night then it was worth it. Zoey is my daughter as you but Cadence and Mallory are like daughters to me too, I've known them since they were very young.” Jed's serious blue stare darted from Tom to Cadence. “Cady you arrived mad at me, you intend to stay mad at me and so you'll leave mad at me,” Jed murmured, “but I wanted to see you anyway, Abbey calls it guilt, I think it's more masochism but we'll agree to differ. Your father and I are both sorry but there are only so many ways to say it and you need to understand the blame for Agent Sparks' death is not entirely ours much as you want it to be.”

Tom watched as a mixture of heated emotions crossed Cadence's face and her mouth twitched as it shifted through a variety of frowns and scowls. He reached out his free hand to her and gave hers a gentle squeeze.

“Sir,” Tom addressed the President with a hopeful smile, “can we start again without the politics?”

Jed gave Tom a small, amused grin and nodded. His eyes widened suddenly as he looked past Tom to an approaching figure. “Oh lord,” he murmured quietly. “Tom let's start again quickly with you and Cadence heading back into the dining room where Mr Ziegler can make his apology. That's right Toby,” he added sharply without looking back to the man, “you still have to make good on yours.”

Cadence and Tom both glanced behind them to follow Jed's mildly scornful stare.

Leo McGarry was walking up the corridor, at first casual, the sight of Cadence and Tom had made him move to a brisker pace.

“Leo whatever interruption you're about to fake to spy on Tom and Cady can wait,” Jed addressed him sternly. “Cady, Tom,” he lowered his voice as he spoke to them, “back to the dining room now, I'll hold him off.”

A little puzzled by Jed's turn of phrase and not eager for any more confrontations, Tom obeyed, pulling Cadence with him despite her obvious desire to stay and yell at her father.

Toby shuffled back reluctantly to let the pair into the dining room.

Jed closed the door behind them banishing Leo from sight.

“Well Toby let's hear your attempt at faking an apology,” Cadence addressed Toby coldly, making it clear that he wasn't of the hook.

The young woman tugged her hand free from Tom to fold her arms and looked at Toby expectantly with a frown and an unimpressed gaze.

Toby glanced from Cadence to Tom before conjuring a bitter smile to his face. “Alright, I'm sorry I brought up politics at the dinner table,” he said, “that wasn't very...I don't know, very polite of me?” he offered with a shrug. “I'm not good at events like these even without Republicans,” he added as he gave Tom another hostile stare. “It's not personal,” he added pointedly, “I just think you might doom us all by being here.”

Cadence sighed and pressed one hand up into her brow in frustration whilst Tom surprised them with a laugh.

“I only wish I had that kind of power at the table Mr. Ziegler,” Tom mused with a shake of his head. “I'm in the House of Representatives, my seat's only assured for another year and I've yet to crack the Senate.”

Toby gave a flicker of a half smile at this. “Right but powerful friends and all that,” he murmured.

“Hmm well one or two,” Tom admitted, “but all they'll hear from me is how I finally have a girlfriend and that will be of more interest to them than anything else.”

“Wish I could believe that,” Toby muttered quietly.

Tom's grin widened, creeping up the right side of his mouth as it often did. “Toby how would people react if you had a girlfriend?” he pried quietly with a hint of mockery.

“Hmm, I almost take your point,” Toby retorted. “Alright, well temporary amends then until we face the political warfare again tomorrow?” he offered.

Tom held out a hand. “I think that's the best I'll get from you so I'll take it,” he said.

Toby glanced down at Tom's hand distastefully before accepting it with an obvious reluctance, offering the briefest handshake he could manage.

Hearing Jed and Leo bellowing at each other, the three exchanged an awkward glance before Toby gestured back to the table.

The three retreated to the others, hopeful that the conversation had swayed to something more pleasant.

“Where's the President?” Sam pried with a curious look.

“Trying to stop dad spying,” Cadence answered calmly as she took a seat.

“Oh.” Sam stared at his plate. “Huh.”

“Well you knew he'd try,” Mallory murmured. “Yet another reason for dining elsewhere,” she added pointedly with another glower at Sam.

“And there was me thinking saying no to the President would've been the worse thing to do,” Sam retorted helplessly. He glanced up at Mallory with woe and gave a small smile. “I should have known it was worse to tell you to change plans.”


	37. Never Ending Dinner

Toby and C.J returned to the dining room for the fifth time this evening. C.J gave a small, apologetic smile to the table as she returned to her seat. “Oh good, it's still warm this time,” she jested as she tidied the folds of her dress about the cream cushion of the Queen Anne styled chair and felt the warmth of her own body from the cushion.

Toby continued to wear his familiar scowl of the evening as he returned to his own seat. “This is a never ending dinner,” he grumbled.

The Communications Director ignored the looks of ire he received from Sam, Mallory and Charlie. He had a point, it was already past midnight and they were still waiting for their fourth course, which wasn't to be served until the president rejoined them. Numerous events had seen the small party moving back and forth from the dining room to attend to matters of the nation. Mundane bathroom breaks had also played a part ensuring that even those who weren't working tonight had their turn at departing from the room.

Tom glanced about the room and figuring that the president wasn't about to return anytime soon he stood up for another toilet break.

“Who's coming with me this time?” the congressman quipped sardonically as he glanced about the males.

Only Toby was too shameless to wilt slightly against the table at Tom's biting query. Every time the congressman had needed a bathroom break one of the others had felt a need to coincidentally accompany him. Having a companion for each of them had drawn attention to how many breaks there were and whilst two of them had been to attend his nose bleeds, Tom still felt a certain embarrassment at the volume of them and was unwilling to admit that the seasoning on the chicken combined with a mild hint of nerves was the cause for the others. Sure there was also the volume of drink and food consumed over four hours now which had led to three breaks for Mallory and four for Zoey but Tom knew the source of his was less to do with consumption and more to do with unease.

The first break had been easy to cover, Josh had gone to lead the congressman to the bathrooms but the route he had taken felt a little long to Tom who had queried curiously if there weren't any bathrooms closer to the dining room and if the inconvenience wasn't a little embarrassing when they had foreign delegates visiting.

Cadence had grown a little irritated when the third time Tom had needed to go Charlie had jumped up as if animated by a spring, insisting that the corridors were a little tricky to navigate and he would go with Tom just in case despite Charlie having gone only ten minutes prior to this.

When pressed for an explanation the men had ducked from the issue, offering some feigned explanations of over politeness. Zoey had giggled and scorned the explanations whilst Mallory, now in a settled state of calm anger for Sam, had merely rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and murmured that the attitude fit in well with the theme of the evening.

Cadence had started to snap about mistrust and insults the last time but Tom had interrupted with one of his gentle smiles for her before commenting kindly that perhaps people were just using it as an excuse to stretch their legs. Josh muttering aloud before he could help himself that that would have been a better excuse hadn't helped.

Josh glanced up at the congressman with a small smile that held a slight apology to it. “I'll go.” He offered a wider smile as he started to stand. “Why start going solo now?” he queried mockingly.

Tom tapped him lightly on his right shoulder. “Tag you're it,” he teased.

Josh tensed slightly at the light touch before he let out a soft laugh.

The pair retreated from the room briskly and only when they were gone did Mallory speak.

“Okay, what is this really?” she snapped as her dark eyes darted across the table accusingly. “Since when do you play whose turn is it to escort guests to the bathroom?”

Abbey smiled at the question and stayed silent as she waited for the men to come up with a better explanation than 'politeness'.

“They're still terrified Tom will go and raid all their top secret documents if he's not under their careful eye,” Cadence chimed up sarcastically. She gave Toby a pointed look of scorn. “He's not a Bond villain you know.”

“He certainly dresses like one,” Toby muttered.

“Actually Toby, James Bond has worn several white dinner suits in the movies,” Sam piped up with a smile. He dared to glance at Mallory in the hopes that he might have earned some form of reward from her for his supportive comment but she was frowning at Toby now.

Toby ignored Sam's response as he fidgeted with unused cutlery. “He's got an angle,” he insisted, “he must taking all those toilet breaks.”

“He had a nosebleed,” Charlie reminded him gently.

Cadence sighed as the far doors opened and the president finally returned to them. Like Toby she was feeling the length of their evening and was all too eager for it to come to an end. The only things that had kept her from misery tonight were Tom's gentle, lopsided smiles and the slight teasing glint in his pale blue eyes as he focused them on her.

Jed looked a little flustered as he moved back to the table with ire on his face and his brow wrinkled slightly in scorn. “Why can't the Palestinians wait for a more sociable hour for their minor incursions?” he grumbled aloud.

“Is it too much to ask that we finish this dinner before it's time for breakfast?” Abbey queried in a tone that sounded sweet on the surface but had a hint of sternness underneath it.

“Well I don't know my dearest,” Jed retorted sardonically as he took his seat at the head of the table, “would you like me to call India and ask if they could save their problems with China until it's their bedtime because it's disturbing our dinner time? And shall I ask Senator Donner to stop using Christmas as an excuse to portray my party as un-Christian because some people would rather say Happy Holidays? Never mind that some people would also rather wish you a hopeful Solstice and sacrifice cattle so the sun comes back,” he sneered. “The fact that the man shares his name with a reindeer is insufferable.”

Jed gave Abbey a biting smile to match his frustrations.

Abbey waved her hand out at him in scorn. “Jed these sound like problems that could wait until tomorrow,” she remarked as she raised her eyebrows slightly.

“Yes, well...” Jed trailed off as he surveyed the table of tired diners. “Leo didn't think so,” he concluded quietly.

“You know if we'd gone where I wanted tonight not only would dinner be finished but we would have had time for dancing and talking to Tom without the third degree and bizarre bathroom breaks,” Mallory lamented. She paused and plucked up her wine glass, twisting its stem in her hand slowly. “And we'd be in bed by now,” she concluded wistfully.

“We?” Sam spluttered as he looked across the table at her sheepishly.

Mallory fixed a stern stare on Sam. “We,” she repeated firmly before she took a sip from her glass. “Bo point on thinking about what could have been,” she commented dismissively as she set the glass back down.

In one of the White House's many bathrooms, Josh felt more than a little awkward as he stood to one side whilst Tom hummed a merry tune as he washed his hands. Josh was baffled by Tom's happy mood, quite certain if their roles had been reversed his patience would have long vanished, hell he probably would have vanished too. Surely no woman was worth all this scrutiny and abuse?

“Tom I'm sorry,” he apologised as the man shook his hands dry before reaching up to straighten his bowtie.

Tom paused and glanced over to Josh questioningly with a lopsided, self-mocking smile. “Why? Because you all keep accompanying to the toilet like a child?” He let out a laugh to ease the sting of his words although there was a slight edge to it hinting that his merriment was starting to give way to irritation. “It is annoying but it is still an improvement on first course's fiascos.”

“Oh geez,” Josh palmed his forehead slightly, “is that how we're going to remember this dinner? In terms of course incidents.”

Tom shrugged and resumed fixing his bowtie. “Well we have two courses left so there's still time for your friend Toby to ask if I sacrifice children,” he remarked cheerfully, “and C.J to continue not so subtly probing me for some scandal in the Republican party that she can leak to the press in time for Christmas, and for the First Lady to try and find some decent Landis I'm related to so she can tell Cady's mother that it's okay I'm a Republican because I come from a good family after all.”

Josh lowered his hand as he gave a slightly uncomfortable chuckle. “I guess there's a certain irony here that as the people who help run one of the largest free nations in the world we should have a little more tact than this.”

Josh looked at Tom sheepishly as he considered what he wanted to say next.

“Can I be honest with you though Tom,” Josh decided the congressman deserved some sort of sincere explanation for the toilet trips, “these er...accompaniments to the bathroom,” he paused awkwardly as he felt a faint heat at his face and knew that he was starting to blush, “they are well...” He waved his hand as he attempted to find the words. “Well only slightly out of paranoia that you go wandering and the wrong people see you, leaks are easy sprung but not so easily stopped.” Josh gave an embarrassed smile that wavered slightly at Tom's unimpressed expression.

“Mainly however,” Josh continued more firmly as he met Tom's slightly disapproving blue gaze, “we've just being trying to avoid a run in with Leo.”

“Leo,” Tom repeated carefully as he headed to the linen towel waiting on the rack and dried his hands properly, “Leo McGarry.”

“Yes, he knew we'd have to have bathroom breaks,” Josh admitted. “He's been around all night trying to get an opportunity.”

Tom tuned to face Josh with a curious gaze. “An opportunity for what? To talk to me? Threaten me? Lecture me about dating his daughter?” Tom folded his arms and smiled as he shook his head. “Let him, we will have to talk sooner or later.”

“Well make it later Tom,” Josh implored. “Cadence is mad with him and I think this dinner has been ...challenging enough without her having to concern herself with Leo starting an argument with you or Cadence starting one with him, publicly, in a room with witnesses,” Josh added with a confident nod, “because that is what she tends to do.”

Tom's grin widened and his gaze filled with a bright spark of humour. “Josh what it is between you and Cady? You call her Cadence but you obviously care about her. I know you both worked together on Hoynes' campaign so you have known each other for a while. Did you date or something?”

Josh's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly as he blanched at the thought. “Nn...no!” He tried and failed not to yell out his response. “Never! I wouldn't date her!” He pulled a face of revulsion before remembering who he was talking to.

Tom seemed to find the humour in Josh's response and let out a chuckle. “Josh there is some truth to he that doth protest too much,” he teased.

“Tom no,” Josh insisted with a wave of his hand, “Cadence and I have never dated. I just, every so often, remember that she is a human and capable of feelings and sometimes against my better judgement I do think she should be cut some slack.” Josh sighed in frustration knowing that he wasn't coming across well.

Tom nodded empathetically. “I know what you mean even if you refuse to say it Josh,” he said, still with a slight tease to his voice. “She has a lot of pain in her past, that much I've gathered, and you care about her and don't want anymore pain for her or Leo because you care a lot about him too,” he added.

Josh was surprised by Tom's insightfulness and wondered if it was just written across his face or if Tom had a knack for seeing these things in people. He thought about his numerous meetings with Tom and wondered how often Cadence and Leo had been mentioned in them. He figured if it was that Tom just had a knack then Toby was right to be wary of him, for such perceptiveness could be a dangerous trait to possess.

Josh turned away from Tom and headed for the bathroom door. “I think the president was with Leo,” he murmured, “hopefully they're done but then again if they are it means Leo's running loose.”

Tom let out an amused snort at this. “Poor Leo, talked about like a bull,” he joked. “He is her father, he has a right to wonder and worry about who his daughter is with, both of his daughters.”

“You don't agree with shutting him out,” Josh realised as they started walking.

“No I don't but I only know a little about the anger between him and Cady,” Tom admitted. “She doesn't like to talk about any of it. I understand things happened in Colombia that the media and the public don't get to know about and that Leo and the president put a heavy burden on her to try and fix a mess she didn't want to create. She paid a large price for peace but isn't that the way of the Democrats, to think of the safety and well-being of the many rather than the individual?” he quipped bitterly.

Josh was again surprised, thinking that Tom knew more than he would've thought. “Cadence could have let us know about her first field trip to Colombia,” Josh remarked defensively, “at least she could have told the president and Leo.”

“Would anyone have believed her?” Tom queried curiously.

“I'm sure they would have,” Josh retorted firmly.

They returned to the dining room and both of them were relieved to see that their fourth course, dessert, had just been served.

Dessert was two scoops of crème fraîche vanilla ice-cream served with a wafer slice and a drizzle of golden-brown honey in a glass ice-cream bowl.

Cadence was looking at her two scoops with a frown that puzzled Tom.

“Are you not a fan of ice-cream?” Tom asked as he occupied his seat once more and reached for a napkin that wasn't there. His blue gaze sparkled with mirth as he realised it was in Cadence's hands as she fidgeted with it on the table.

Cadence glanced over at Tom before turning a look of annoyance up the table to the president who was ignorant to it as he discussed basketball with Toby and Charlie.

“This is one of my favourites,” Cadence admitted as she looked back at Tom with a wistful stare. “Ice-cream with honey, we used to have it as a treat when we went to New Hampshire, there was a parlour there that got the honey from their own hives.”

Cadence trailed off and stared down at her latest origami napkin formed creature. It was a blob that looked potentially cat like. Before C.J was a better creature formed in between the second and third course, a bird complete with a hooked nose and long legs. C.J had accepted it with a joyous laugh.

Cadence squished this latest creation as her frown deepened into a scowl.

Mallory watched her sister with worry, knowing some of the memories the dessert might conjure for her sibling. For Mallory the nostalgic dessert had her thinking of walks in the fall carrying cones as she linked arms with Liz Bartlet and talked about college and boys whilst Cadence and Ellie followed behind with a very young Zoey behind them. Zoey usually grumbled about being tired because everyone walked too fast and was always upset for being the youngest without another female to balance with until Cadence procured her sprinkles for her ice-crea for being the youngest and proclaimed proudly that she was their third musketeer.

Zoey too seemed a little uneasy as she looked at the two scoops of ice-cream in her glass bowl. At first the sight of the honey glazing on the creamy scoops had made her smile as it brought back the smell of the country air of New Hampshire and thoughts of her childhood farm home with fondness. Many a warm summer's afternoon had been spent devouring rapidly melting vanilla ice-cream scoops in the fields as she, Cady and Ellie hid from chores and tried to see who could eat their ice-cream the fastest without getting a brain freeze.

Zoey knew that Cadence's memories of New Hampshire wouldn't be so simple or nostalgic. Ice-cream had always been the treat that signified her and Mallory's visits. Bustled off to the ice-cream parlour, it had been a means of getting them out of the way whilst Leo and Jed discussed politics and business as the would be shapers of the world even all those years ago. The journey to the ice-cream parlour had sometimes involved a bus trip and a long walk when they couldn't get a lift, when they were young it was a worthwhile adventure but as they got older they began to realise it was just a means of their parents keeping them away for longer. Soon it became a chore too with a unsatisfactory reward until Robbie Donovan had come to learn of it and scolded them and proclaimed that ice-cream could never be seen in such a manner.

Robbie had resurrected the tradition, offering lifts in a banged up red car he had considered his pride and joy. On one memorable visit on a wet, wintry evening he had surprised them all by arriving at the Bartlet house with the ice-cream already in hand, packaged up in tubs with pots of honey, ready to be made up in the kitchen because, as he had said, he couldn't have his girls out in weather like that but his girls couldn't miss out on the McGartlet ice-cream either. Robbie was also the one who had coined the term 'McGartlet ice-cream'.

“What's wrong?” Charlie queried quietly as he saw Zoey's smile fade and her bright eyes fill with a troubled gaze. “I know you love ice-cream.” He had been eating his quite happily until he had noticed that Zoey had yet to touch hers.

Zoey pushed back a stray strand of dark hair before she gave him a reassuring smile. “Nothing, I guess I only like ice-cream this late if I'm already in bed with a movie on,” she mused.

Cadence was still staring at her ice-cream, watching as it melted and wondering who had picked it and why- Abbey or Jed? She was upset either way.

“Mmm it's good,” C.J enthused as she scooped at hers eagerly.

“Not sure about the honey,” Josh complained as he pulled a face as he got a mouth of the sticky sugar substitute. It was sweet but stronger than expected.

“The honey was his favourite part,” Cadence murmured quietly. She reached for her wine glass, drained it, pushed back from the table and stood up. “I think I need a bathroom break now,” she said irately.

Tom stood up as well.

Toby, unaware of the issues over the ice-cream, snapped, “is your bladder the size of a pea?”

“Toby Ziegler it is not good manners to ask people about their bladder size,” Abbey scolded him calmly. She smoothed out the napkin on her lap before cocking her head in Cadence's direction. “Cady darling the dessert was my idea, I thought it appropriate with having you, Mallory and Zoey all here and that truly is all I meant by it. Perhaps it would have been better if Liz and Ellie were present too. Certainly, I can understand why you might view it as a poor choice and for that I do apologise,” she said sincerely in a calm, clear voice that held no embarrassment to it. “My intention was to conjure up only happy memories.”

“Why do you apologise to her so easily?” Jed snapped as he gestured up to Cadence with one hand. “You commit any offence towards me and somehow I end up apologising for it,” he grumbled.

“My dear that is because you are wrong to take the offence in the first place,” Abbey answered with a small smile as she continued to look to Cadence apologetically.

Tom moved round the table to stand near Cadence, offering her a supportive stare despite being more than a little confused about the issue over the ice-cream.

Cadence pushed a hand through her loose hair and sighed. “This really is a never ending dinner,” she repeated Toby's words. “There's no offence taken Abbey, it's just...it's not easy. I think I still need the bathroom,” she mumbled.

“Well I'll escort you,” Tom offered as he held out his arm to her, “I know the way off by heart now I think.”

“Be sure to go hunting through Toby's drawers for his secrets,” Josh called to him loudly with a smirk, “otherwise you'll be letting us down and giving us the wrong idea about you Republicans.”

Tom shook his head even as he smiled too.

As they walked through the quiet corridors to the bathrooms, Cadence attempted to apologise to Tom again.

“I'm sorry Tom, I really don't even know what else can go wrong,” she murmured irately. “Maybe dad will finally burst through the doors and cause a scene.”

“Well hopefully there won't be any cutlery on the table for that,” Tom jested.

Cadence glanced up at him mournfully as they reached the bathrooms. “Tom this cannot have been fun for you and I haven't helped any. There's a lot to explain,” she sighed and fiddled with the skirt of her dress, “about me and things in my past.”

Tom slipped a hand under her chin and gently tilted her head back up to face him. “We all have a past Cady,” he said calmly. “You and I have lots of time to get to know each other and share with each other, it's doesn't all have to be forced out now.”

“Well I should tell you about the ice-cream,” she murmured. “It was a treat we had when Mallory and I visited the Bartlets in New Hampshire, really going to get it was just a way of Jed and dad getting rid of us all for a while.” She smiled faintly at the memories just at the edge of her mind. It hadn't always been happy, they were young girls after all, and her smile faded as she remembered Ellie throwing her takeaway pot of ice-cream at Cadence in a fit of anger, tears streaking down her cheeks as she had screamed accusations at her about having spied Cadence and Robbie hand holding by the trees.

“And you had good days and bad days with the ice-cream,” Tom murmured as he watched the emotions flicker across Cadence's face, “because it's not about the ice-cream, is it? It's about things that happened in New Hampshire.”

His hand slipped away as Cadence nodded and closed her eyes in an attempt to banish the memories. She tensed as while her eyes were closed she was surprised by the feel of Tom's warm mouth pressing against hers.

Cadence stretched up her arms to wrap about Tom's shoulders and pull him closer to her. She realised she was afraid to let him go, scared that after everything that had happened this evening he would run and never look back.

Tom placed a hand about Cadence's waist whilst his other pressed up against her cheek and stroked it gently. He pulled back from her slightly and gave a beguiling smile. “It's alright,” he assured. “You'll tell me another day and I'll tell you things too. I think that I'll pick the venue for our next date,” he added humorously.

Cadence smiled at this. “Then there's going to be a next date?” she queried mockingly.

Tom nodded happily. “Oh yes, definitely, now if we're being fair I should subject you to dinner in the Senate with the Speaker present but I'm nice so I think we'll find something else to do without work colleagues.”

Cadence let out a giggle at this. “Hmm I think I'd like that.”

“Now, do you still need the bathroom?” he queried. “Because that Toby is going to think I have a bladder infection if we don't return soon and the president is probably going to make implications to your father that I'd prefer he wouldn't.”

Cadence nodded. “I get it, just give me a minute then.”

Cadence was as good as her word and it wasn't long before she and Tom were returning to the dining room. As they reached the doors and braced themselves for the final course of the evening, Cadence suddenly pulled Tom to a halt.

The congressman looked at the young woman quizzically until she stretched up and gave him a quick kiss.

“Remember that when everyone starts up again,” she said quietly. “I'm going to owe you for this dinner.”

Tom touched a finger lightly to his mouth where a trace of Cadence McGarry remained, a taste that was all just her as she wore no lipstick or gloss. He could smell her vanilla perfume, faded as the evening had drifted by but still intoxicating to him as its sweet odour had carried to him with her kiss. He still hadn't figured out what it was about this woman that had him so ensnared and putting up with humiliation and making moves that could frankly be considered career suicide if they were ever leaked but here he was anyway, feeling the happiest he had been all night because he had made Cadence smile again and gotten a kiss for his efforts.

“Hmm, it may all be worth it then,” he joked gently as he opened the door and ushered her in.

“Tom thank goodness, I was worried you had spirited our lovely Cady off for something nefarious,” Jed addressed them loudly in a sardonic jibe.

“Oh lord,” Abbey lamented with a roll of her eyes, “why don't you just bring Leo in here and be done with it? You're obviously trying to express parental overprotection on his behalf, badly I might add,” she scolded him. “Tom, Cady, take a seat,” she addressed the pair with a smile, “our final course is here.”

“Hurray,” C.J chimed up before she could help it.

The waitresses and waiters who had been waiting patiently at the side for Tom and Cadence's return, stepped in quickly to serve out tea and cookies. Of course it was no ordinary serving of tea and cookies but instead freshly made, still warm shortbread with chocolate chips melting in the sugar powdered biscuit and tea brewed from a vibrant selection of tea leaves. There were several pots along with offerings of cream and sugar.

“Hey Tom, did you know the Greeks and Romans had this concept of hospitality,” Jed began in an informative voice. “They had this idea that you had to perform the rites of hospitality for your guests and to do different was to risk the wrath of the gods. Certainly it was a good way for a guest to ensure the protection of his host rather say his hostility.”

“Jed you are as subtle as a priest with a collection plate,” Abbey scorned him.

Josh chortled at this and glanced to the congressman who was showing an admirable expression of calm. “Poor Tom, the way everyone here is getting on you'd think you'd stormed the gates,” he sympathised.

Tom glanced over at Cadence and winked before grinning. “I'll just remember the good things,” he mused.


	38. The World Keeps Turning

In Texas there had been gunfire. Tragically there had been three deaths, four who might yet join them before the month and the year with it was done, and five who would live but with scars upon their persons as the world permanently looked a little bleaker for them. Jed wondered bitterly what his Vice would say about it all and did not envy him the position of being there. There would no bauble hanging now.

At the moment the reports were still coming in, two gunmen, one killed in a shoot-out with police, the other wounded in it and on his way to hospital so people could try and save his life in spite of him taking so many. It had happened in a busy department store on a mild Friday evening when the store was thriving with Christmas shoppers. The motive was still murky but witnesses who worked there had apparently already identified the shooters as ex-employees.

Jed was preparing his statement, waiting for the rest of the facts to come in before he stepped out before the watchful, soulless eyes of many cameras and talked once again about senseless deaths. He knew he'd have to make contact with John first, the Vice was in Texas right now and Jed would need to know what John was intent on saying about the tragic affair.

John was currently in his home city of Abilene reminding his people why he'd been their senator and keeping the embers burning for support so that when the time came to run it would be easy to start the fire. Jed knew why John was there, John planned ahead because he had to, he looked to the end of this four year term with an impatient hunger that made Jed irate as he wished his Vice could focus more on present affairs. Jed considered grimly that with today's news John would have no choice but to consider the present.

\---

Cadence wasn't surprised by the abrasive snarl that called to her through the closed door she had just knocked. Given the dark turn the day had taken it was no surprise the Vice President was in a sombre mood.

“It's Cadence McGarry sir,” she called, opting for formalities for the sake of the witnessing Secret Service who stood stoically on guard in the hotel corridor.

There was the sound of heavy footsteps before John tugged open the door of his suite to peer out at her moodily.

Cadence was stunned by the odour of vodka she detected from the Vice President and it showed on her face as she looked at him aghast with wide eyes.

“Come in then,” John remarked grimly as he stepped back to grant her entry.

Cadence stepped in, closing the door tightly behind her as she surveyed the room, immediately searching for the source of the alcohol so she could gage what she was working with. Her eyes fell upon a bottle of the hotel's priciest brand of vodka missing just under a quarter of its contents, a mostly full jug of water beside it and a crystal tumbler loaded with ice and a hint of liquid. The items were all sitting on a silver serving tray on a chest of drawers beside a television which was on but turned down.

“When the hell did you start drinking again John?” Cadence demanded in shock.

John flashed her an almost accusing blue stare before he reached for the tumbler and plucked it up. He gamely swung back the remainder of vodka into his mouth and set the glass down noisily before he reached for the bottle to pour again.

“Colombia,” John confessed quietly as he filled the glass again.

Cadence continued to stare at him in astonishment as she felt the guilt begin to flood up her. “Colombia?” she echoed.

He nodded briskly before waving off the guilt growing on her face with one hand. “It was a mixture of things that led to it but I'm handling it.”

Cadence's guilt vanished for anger and she folded her arms in a cross stance. “That isn't true,” she snapped, “I know from my father that there is no handling it.”

John glanced over his shoulder to give her a look of irritation. “Firstly,” he snapped as he pointed at her with one finger, “I am not your father and secondly, I obviously have been handling it because you didn't even know I was drinking until now.”

Cadence shook her head as her arms slackened and she hurried over to him as he lifted the glass again. “John stop,” she implored.

John flinched as her hands grasped his arm, restraining it as he reached for the glass. He stared down at her angrily but her gaze was unflinching and her grasp firm.

“This isn't going to help,” she said. “What's happened has happened, you need to deal with it.”

“And how can I do that?” he queried bitterly. “By slamming my own beliefs over guns? You're not seriously here to advise me on P.R over something like this, are you?” he demanded.

Cadence shook her head as she released his arm at last and took a step back, all too conscious as to how close she was to the man. “No. John don't talk about gun policies, that makes it impersonal, just say what we're all thinking, that this is a terrible loss of life. At the moment it doesn't matter how they were murdered, it matters that they were murdered,” she insisted.

John nodded gruffly but he didn't think it was as simple as that. He glanced to the television where the news continued to display the top story of gun murders in Texas and frowned as a photograph of the youngest victim- Victoria Hoyt, aged seven, was displayed.

John seized up his glass and took a gulp, hesitating as he felt Cadence's look of scorn upon him. He slammed the glass down in anger and gave her another glower.

“We're here on business so it's Mr Vice President,” he berated her.

Cadence's hands were up on her hips as she gave him another scolding look. “You act like one I'll call you one,” she informed him sharply. Her grey-blue gaze softened as sympathy filled it. “I'm here to help,” she reminded him.

Cadence glanced at the watch on her wrist. “Shower, change and coffee and then you need to face your public sir. What did you run for if not to better their welfare? The people are scared and angry, reassure them that their government cares and will do more to stop this kind of thing.”

John arched his dark eyebrows slightly, anger giving way to his own surprise as he realised she was right, it was his job not to try and fumble over why this had happened but to comfort the people in their grief.

He gave her a small smile. “You know Cady, even though you're telling me off, I'm glad you came here. I needed it.”

Cadence flinched when he reached out a hand to her right shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

John smile vanished for a frown at her reaction as he watched her hastily banish any budding lust from her gaze. His hand rose from her shoulder to stroke her hair but she took a conscious step back to avoid the gesture.

“It's alright to cheat on my wife but you can't stray from your Republican, can you?” John snarled out.

Cadence's eyes filled with surprise at the accusation before she shielded her shock with anger and frowned back at him. “It was never alright to cheat on your wife,” she answered in a quiet calm.

“I see and yet you were happy for me to do it over and over with you.” John continued to frown as he felt his heated anger return. “No point in suggesting you join me in the shower then,” he remarked sardonically, “because you can't spoil a relationship that's only a few days old but a marriage built over the years, that's fine to sully.”

“You're being cruel,” Cadence accused. “I never said what we did was right but it was a we John, you are the one who chose to cheat and yes, I encouraged it, I admit it but damn it I'm not doing it.” She wanted to look away from him, he hadn't suddenly become unattractive just because she was dating someone. The tension in the room was so thick Cadence almost felt like she couldn't breathe, she had tingled at his brief touch and felt a thrilled rush of danger with it knowing that if she had let him keep going her resolve might shake.

“Good for me but not for you? So you're suddenly a saint now that you've the partner to stray from?” John sneered. He raised a hand to chest and added angrily, “after all I've done for you to prove you matter to me, to prove to you that it's more than just sex. I've humiliated myself for you and bent over backwards to save your career multiple times-”

John faltered when Cadence failed to argue back. She nodded agreeably even as she looked away from him and continued to frown.

“I know sir but I can only have you on your terms,” she said softly, “and that isn't enough for me.” Cadence pushed back her golden-brown hair and glanced up at him with a sombre stare. “You're mad and spoiling for a fight because you want to get the anger out somehow and you've been drinking but I don't want to fight with you, and it's not going to put you in a mood to address the press and the people so don't.”

Cadence's stare became imploring as her frown faded. “Please Mr Vice President, go get a shower and I'll get the coffee ordered. I promise it's going to help.”

John frowned again as he took a step back from her this time. He turned and headed towards the bathroom despite his annoyance. He halted at the bathroom door and without looking back growled out, “you only started dating with him when you fell out with Leo and the President over the agent's death. He's a means of getting back at them and we all know it.”

“That's not true,” Cadence retorted hotly. Her answer was quick as her anger returned and she glowered at John's back.

John opened the door and stepped into the bathroom. “Cruel to use someone like that Cadence, very cruel,” he scorned her before he closed the door behind him.

Cadence clenched her fists as she only just resisted the urge to yell out an obscenity at the door.

John took his time in the bathroom, lingering in the shower under water that was almost ice cold as he tried to shock himself into sobriety. He knew he shouldn't be drinking and felt guilty as he considered that the people deserved better. Once he finished drying off and stepped out of the room wearing a towel for modesty he wasn't surprised to see that Cadence was gone.

A sombre black suit with a crisp white shirt and a plain, black tie were waiting for him on the bed whilst a fresh pot of hot coffee sat on a tray with a waiting cup in place of the now absent vodka bottle and glass.

John stepped up to the coffee first and saw a scribbled note resting beside the empty cup. It read 'No PR, no publicity, just people. Be about the people John.'

John knew the advice was right as he began to pour himself a cup of coffee, readying himself for what was going to be a long, long day.

\---

It had been a back and forth kind of day. That sort of day when you seemed to start a thousand and one tasks but finish none as another urgency and another priority displaced the first. It was draining, the ferrying back and forth from room to room, reacting as fast as one could to disasters knowing that every second counted. Now it was the early evening and everyone was in a familiar state of alert exhaustion, that murky period of one's day when your body knew it was tired but your mind stayed hyper, too afraid of another problem to consider rest.

C.J Cregg was poised for the next story, sombre at the headlines as she kept seeing the image of the now deceased Victoria Hoyt over and over. It was jarring having that terrible thought in her mind as she bypassed carol singers in the White House lobby on her way out for coffee.

Outside the weather was stormy but in the White House the storm seemed worse and the press secretary needed a respite from it. Life went on. She knew that, it was the harsh reality that many people were killed in mindless acts of violence every day but the world kept turning anyway. There had been deaths in Qumar too, twenty peaceful protesting women slaughtered by soldiers but it wasn't headline news, hell she hadn't even gotten to talk about it yet or been asked about it. No one cared about foreign news today and she couldn't help but think that was a little unfair.

As she tugged the collar of her long coat close and prepared to slip out into a grey, dreary day, the cheerful voice of Danny Concannon stopped her.

“C.J!”

She turned as he caught up to her, moving a fast walk through the lobby, as animated as ever as he gave a wave of one hand even before she turned to look at him.

Ordinarily C.J would have smiled but today she didn't have the energy. “Hey Danny,” she greeted softly. “I've no scoops today,” she added, hoping that he would get the hint that she didn't want to discuss news right now.

“That's okay,” he said with a flicker of a faint smile. “I just thought I'd offer to buy you a coffee.” He gestured to the entrance with one hand. “Hopefully from somewhere nearby because I don't have my coat,” he added.

This got a smile, it was brief but for just a second C.J felt a small spark of happiness and was reminded that whilst yes the world could be a miserable, unfair, violent place at times that did not mean all joy and hope was gone from it.

“Well that's your fault,” C.J teased, “not mine. I was thinking of going across the street.”

“You don't exactly have good clothes for that weather either,” Danny pointed out, “your designer coat is lacking a hood.”

Although he had a valid point, C.J rejected it anyway and shrugged. “It's better than no coat at all.”

“The Vice President gave a good talk about the shootings,” Danny remarked calmly. At C.J's wincing look he held up both his palms to her. “I'm not fishing for an official opinion on his talk, I'm being sincere.”

C.J sighed even as she nodded. “He did,” she admitted.

She glanced over at the carollers almost accusingly wondering why no one had asked them to stop in light of recent events but then she remembered they were paid for the performance in the form of a generous donation for victims of domestic violence. It wasn't gun violence but a good cause was a good cause. C.J figured people probably appreciated the distraction of the singers even if she found it inappropriate. Sure in a couple of days people would reach for the tinsel and lights in desperation, eager to distract themselves from depression and violence with the magic and merriment of Christmas and that was alright, people deserved a moment of peace and joy but right now C.J didn't want that kind of distraction, she wanted to stay sombre and sad for Victoria and all the other victims in the Texas' shooting, at least until the day was done.

“Let's go,” she said.

Danny nodded and the pair headed out to brace the whipping winter wind and the spray of icy rain it brought with it. They hurried through puddles with their heads bowed to the storm, walking until C.J figured she was done getting her breath torn away from her with each rush of the wind, having her hair blown in all directions and her bare legs splashed by cold water with each step she took.

They ducked into the first café C.J spied through the gloom of the darkening evening. It was just after six and the café was fading to a lull as the customers calling after work started to fade away and head for home.

C.J was glad to find there was no television in the small building, just some speakers turned down low and crooning out some Christmas music softly enough not to be annoying. She took a seat away from the door to avoid any draught, occupying the soft, leather seat of a booth in a corner whilst thinking cynically that she probably wouldn't get more than a minute to enjoy it before work summoned her back.

The tall redhead didn't even realise Danny had gone to order the drinks until she pushed back her soaked bob and saw that he wasn't sitting opposite her. She glanced around and saw him at the counter smiling to the young waitress as he gave his order. It was still odd to see happiness thinking of the tragedy that had come today, part of C.J was angry by it, wanting Danny to share her expression of stoic grief for the day but another part of her was glad that he could smile, that it was still possible for people to be happy.

It was a conflict in the press secretary. She knew from her job just how tough and ruthless the world was, every day there were new horrors worldwide and no one was spared it not even children. To always be angry and upset for every act of violence and death would mean to never be happy again and it would be exhausting to maintain those kind of emotions and yet to not react to tragedies meant being compliant and unfeeling and C.J couldn't do that either.

Leo had barely blinked at the news today, sure he had been sad but the moment had been brief before he had moved on to the murmur of Iraq testing explosives near one of its borders and thus creating the possibility of war, intentionally or not no one knew yet. C.J had been annoyed at how brief his flare of emotion had been and had grumbled to Josh that if Leo had known one of the Texas victims it would be different.

Josh had sighed, given C.J a sympathetic smile and said yes it would be just as it was for anyone in the world hearing about the news, when it was personal it was always different but he had reminded C.J that you couldn't ask the entire world to stop just for you and that if Leo missed the opportunity to stop a war because he had to pour all his energy into grieving for a young girl in Texas then there would be a lot more deaths to answer for.

C.J understood the argument but she didn't have to like it. She had wanted to demand a reaction for Qumar's women too but today was not the day for that. She had queried it in a moment of passing with the President, asking if he had a statement about it and the look she had gotten was withering coupled with a snarl of, 'not today I don't' and C.J knew that the story was not up for discussion yet.

Danny sat down opposite C.J and gave her a gentle smile. His beard was curlier than usual thanks to the rain and his hair was in need of a good brush to soften the wind damage.

“C.J I know it's been a tough news day,” he sympathised, “but it does happen.”

C.J nodded as she clasped her palms together on the table. “I know Danny but saying it does happen doesn't make it okay for Victoria Hoyt's parents.”

Danny nodded too. “I don't normally like Hoynes' speeches but when he said 'we are the makers of our own mistakes over and over to the point that we think no one learns but then we see the smallest of differences and we realise then that change is possible it's just slow', he was right. He got Senator Whyte to push through better vetting in the state over who they sold guns too. In Houston, because of this, a man was denied sales in three gun shops today, two reported his suspicious behaviour and the police went to check him out. He was planning on going to ex-wife's house to shoot her, her boyfriend and her parents.”

C.J's eyes went wide at this revelation. “I...I didn't know that,” she admitted quietly.

Danny's smile showed a hint of bitterness to this. “Well that's because the good stories don't get the same coverage especially not ones that were almost disasters, they don't get the same interest, morbid but true.”

The waitress arrived and set down their drinks and C.J smiled against as she was presented with a blueberry muffin as well.

“I figured something sweet would help, it always helps,” Danny said cheerfully as he wrapped his chilled hands about his cup eagerly.

C.J's blue stare darted up to give him a gaze both serious and full of gratitude. She stretched out a hand to clasp at one of his. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

Danny's smile became tinged with the cocky hopefulness C.J normally got from him and she found herself giving a small smile.

“I needed this,” she admitted.

“What, the muffin?” Danny quipped teasingly.

C.J let out a laugh, surprising herself with it. She pulled back her hand and joked, “yes Danny, the muffin.”

“She promised me theirs are the best,” Danny said happily.

C.J continued to smile. “I'm sure they are.”

The redhead took a grateful sip of her coffee and didn't mind it so much when 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas' began to play corny and cheerful as it was.

\---

John had changed plans for the Texas trip. He had given his public talk on the tragedy and knew any jovial activities that followed would just appear inappropriate. He was sending his staff back early save for his Secret Service agents of course. He planned to stop in with his elderly parents but without the press or a show of family gatherings for the press and then he would head back to D.C.

They were back in the hotel making the arrangements to check out and head for the airport, since the small VP party was going without the VP that meant travelling commercial not on Air Force Two, which would wait for John's eventual departure.

Cadence was in her room, packed and making a phone call just before she checked out.

“Hello?”

She wrapped the cord of the phone about her finger and cradled the receiver closer, surprised by how happy she was to hear Tom's voice. “Hey Tom,” she greeted softly.

“Cady, how are you?” he queried.

“I'm okay, we're leaving early,” she explained.

“Three days early,” Tom mused, “well I'm tied up in the office so I can't do our museum trip any earlier.”

Cadence heard clicking and guessed it was from a mouse. She had dialled Tom at his home as she knew he would be finished in his office but she realised now that he was probably still in his office he had just moved to the office in his house.

“I know,” Cadence said, “I wasn't expecting you to, I just wanted you to know I was leaving a bit earlier. I...I don't know why, I suppose it makes no difference to us.” Her voice grew quieter as she stared down at the table the phone rested on as she wondered why she had called Tom.

She thought about the Vice President's hand squeezing her shoulder earlier and how he had accused her of dating Tom to spite he father and wondered if she was calling out of guilt or to reassure herself that her feelings for Tom were sincere.

“Cady are you alright?” Tom pried. “You sound a little off. I mean I saw the news, I know it's tragic.”

“It is,” Cadence agreed. “I just, I'm going to make a stop in Chicago I think since I've got the time. Um...” She wondered why she was telling Tom this, they hadn't been dating long, he didn't need to know everything she got up to. “I just, I wanted you to know.” She shrugged even though he couldn't see it. “I don't know why Tom, sorry,” she pressed her free hand to her brow and cursed herself internally, “I think I'm just worried if I don't tell you these things and the press runs some story about me being in Chicago then you'll wonder why I didn't tell you I was going there or something.”

“Cady, I don't believe everything the press says. You've got something on your mind, what is it? Is it something to do with you going to Chicago?” Tom pried calmly as he typed on his keyboard at the same time.

“I guess. I...you probably read it in the papers but I dated a boy called Robbie Donovan when I was in high school, he lived in New Hampshire but he was murdered in Chicago. He was there to see me to surprise me for prom but he got killed, stabbed for his money, it was so pointless. God Tom people die for nothing as if there aren't enough things out there to kill us we have to kill each other and I've never understood why!”

Cadence sucked in a breath as she swallowed down the lump that had developed in her throat. She couldn't seem to shake Robbie lately, every time she thought she was almost over all the memories that Colombia had welled up suddenly something happened to bring them back. Sometimes it was trivial, like a heavy rainstorm having her think of the rainy night Robbie had died in or the rain that poured when the Colombian villagers had been brutally shot or Benjamin Sparks' suicide or it was something like this, another senseless, violent tragedy.

It seemed that for over a month now Cadence had been teetering on the edge, just waiting to be caught up in memories of her losses again. She knew she had to do something about it and she was hoping visiting Chicago might be the key. Maybe if she could look at that street where Robbie had died and see that it was just a street, that Robbie was not haunting it and that life had kept going, maybe it would help. She didn't know but she thought confronting it might be a start. She had never gone to the site where Robbie had bled out, too afraid of what she would imagine, too sad to look at a kerb and see a bloodstain and know it was his, and too guilty to think that if it wasn't for her he wouldn't have been there.

“Things like this don't always make sense,” Tom retorted, kind as he tried to console her, “it is just the way of the world Cady. The best we can do is live for those who can't and enjoy life because it is what they would want.”

Cadence nodded even as she felt a numbness start to set in. “Yeah, I guess. Well, I just...I just wanted you to know I was going to Chicago, I mean I wanted you to hear it from me before the press ran some dumb story about it or something. They probably won't, I mean I just didn't expect them to run any story about Robbie so I have to expect the possibility of it.”

“Are you flying directly there?” Tom pried.  
Cadence nodded and felt the lump back in her throat. It would be a brief flight, not even three hours but she was dreading it anyway. It didn't matter how long a flight was, the moment Cadence stepped onto a plane she felt a rush of terror. She had her prescription of calming drugs, she had gotten them for the flight from D.C to here but she wasn't sure about taking them when she was going to be on this flight alone without any support from helpful co-workers. She didn't like the idea of being vulnerable to medication whilst on a plane full of strangers.

“Yes,” she answered at last, “it's a late flight, goes at five past ten, Texas time that is, I'll check into a nearby hotel.”

“Which airport are you flying to?”

“O'Hare.”

“Alright.”

Cadence could hear the sound of keys being tapped on a keyboard and a mouse clicking as Tom made a few 'hmm' sounds and she reminded herself that he was very busy with work. “Shit Tom I'm sorry, it was selfish of me calling to babble about all this. You're busy with work, look I'll go, I'll see you in three days for the museum just like we planned.”

Tom gave a small chuckle. “Nope, you'll see me at the airport. Cady, you called for a reason, I know that, you need support with this. Wait for me in the airport, hmm here we go, got a flight at eleven, yeah I can do that. You keep an eye out for the D.C flights.”

“Tom no! Please, I didn't meant for you to drop everything,” Cadence protested hastily as she filled with shock and guilt.

“I know Cady but it's important for you to go to Chicago and I don't think you should do it alone.”

“Well I don't have to go now then,” she continued to argue, “not if it means pulling you away from work. Tom, you just said you were busy,” she reminded him.

“I am busy,” he retorted chirpily, “catching a flight to Chicago. The flight's booked Cady, let's not waste time arguing about it. You're my girlfriend, you come first.”

Cadence was stunned to hear that. She realised for all the proclamations of feelings that John had made to her he had never told her she was a priority in his life, important sure but she had never been first, for him the career was and for a long time she had been okay with that but not anymore.

“Thanks Tom,” she retorted softly. “I guess I owe you a coffee at the airport,” she added jokingly.

“Hmm that's more of a punishment than a reward.”

Cadence smiled. “Well I'll owe you something,” she vowed.

“I'm picking the hotel.”

“Well that's fine, you said you weren't a snob,” she reminded him teasingly.

“I am when it's the early hours of the morning and I want a decent bed,” he retorted.

“We can debate it in the airport.”

“No debate, I'm picking, see you in Chicago Cady.”

“See you there Tom and thank you.”

Cadence hung up the phone and hurried for her luggage. As she headed from her room she was aware that a load she hadn't even noticed had been lifted from her. Much as she wanted to confront some of her demons in Chicago she had been dreading it but now it didn't seem so daunting.


	39. Confrontation

Tom Landis was an endangered species and he knew it, as a liberal Republican he was sometimes as popular within his own party as he was amongst most Democrats. It made the job ten times harder sometimes as he had to try and persuade his own more extreme party members to his point of view before even considering battling the opposition. Tom's main strength to win support could often be his weakness- his affable, charming persona sometimes swayed people to liking him but sometimes it had them disliking him for being irksome or dismissing him as weak. For his part, Tom just rolled with the political punches and put in the extra work and effort when he had to. Until tonight.

As night shifted to morning, Tom Landis arrived in O'Hare Airport wondering why he was now taking a suicidal step towards extinction. He knew he should be back in his D.C home concluding his points for a tax cut for people who were the guardians of children that weren't their own- adoptive, fostered or blood relations. Tom wasn't being distinctive about it, he just felt these people deserved a financial break considering they had opened their homes to others. It sounded like something few could argue against but the Democrats didn't go for tax cuts, preferring a one off based loss rather than contemplating a long-term loss. The Republicans loved tax cuts but they were prickly about which ones they wanted to pass in the House because of Democratic opposition.

Tom was meant to be meeting with some Republican senators who were more favourable to the tax cut tomorrow but he knew now that he was going to have to get the meeting cancelled. As a congressman it had been struggle to get the meeting arranged, Tom didn't have the clout to get these motions off the ground and as far as the party was concerned he could be gone in a year, hell since he was a liberal there was already a murmur that he would get a challenge from within in the primaries for his seat.

Tom grinned and shook his head at the irony that he was more at threat from his own co-workers these days than he was from the opposition. His friend Jeff was always trying to caution him, ever insistent that Tom needed to stop fence sitting and get more ruthless with his Republican side but Tom just gave Jeff his ever amused lopsided smile and said that ruthless wasn't what his constituents had voted for.

He scanned the airport hastily, ignoring the attempt at Christmas décor, and spotted Cadence standing waiting for him. He thought about what Jeff would say when he found out Tom had blown off the meeting tomorrow and then he thought about what curses would follow when he found why Tom had done it. Tom had yet to tell Jeff about Cadence. Jeff, known better to his colleagues as Jeffrey Haffley, was one of Tom's few close friends in the party, an oddity of sorts given that Jeff was on the extreme side of Republicanism. It was their differences that had led to the friendship as Jeff had considered Tom an amusing oddity that he wanted to shelter and mould in their party. Tom figured and often joked that Jeff just liked to talk to someone in the party without it turning into a shouted debate. Jeff respected Tom when he wouldn't tolerate other liberals and somehow over the years as Jeff rose and rose within the party his friendship with Tom only strengthened. Yet for all of Jeff's desires to see Tom happy he would not be pleased to learn the Democrat Tom had chosen to date.

Tom's pale blue eyes brightened as Cadence spied him and waved as he hurried towards her. She stood in a slightly damp, grey suit without a coat, the handle of a small suitcase in one hand and a black, leather satchel resting on the shoulder of the other arm, the strap of which she kept twisting about her right hand. Her pale golden-brown hair had been bound up into a loose plait that rested on her right shoulder as if discarded rather than styled.

Cadence smiled up at him but Tom saw that her pupils were a little bigger than normal and the edge of her eyes were a swollen tinge of red.

“How was your flight?” she quipped quietly.

“Alright, a tad unpleasant to land in rain, which I see you are dressed for,” he responded sardonically. “How was yours?”

Cadence nodded as she kept smiling. “The same, I mean it keeps raining, it's so heavy out there and it was bumpy I...” She paused and swallowed hard before pressing her fingertips together as she let the handle of her suitcase rest against her thigh. “Well you've noticed it's raining.” She turned another smile back up to him as she lowered her hands by her sides. “Thank you for coming Tom, you really didn't have to do this.”

Tom looked down at her with concern, knowing something was amiss but he couldn't work out what.

“Cady, am I missing something here?” he asked quietly. “I've gathered the shootings in Texas prompted you to think about this Robbie Donovan guy, you've told me that much, and now we're here in Chicago because you want to find some sort of closure over that but is there something else?”

Cadence's unsettled grey-blue stare turned apologetic. “I don't like flying,” she retorted awkwardly.

Tom realised that her fingertips were now at her jacket fidgeting with the buttons. She tugged two free and ran her fingertips over their smooth surfaces.

“Don't like it or are afraid of it?” Tom pressed for an explanation.

Cadence's nervous stare darted to the distant, large, glass panes of the airport which mostly just depicted darkness but a few showed glimpses of the heavy rainfall, streaks of water illuminated by a variety of amber and white lights from passing vehicles.

Cadence made herself look back to Tom. “I'm afraid of it,” she admitted softly. “I can't even get on a plane without taking something for my nerves, it's just too hard but it's worse with the rain. The rain just washes everything away, all the evidence, the blood, just gone and forgotten.”

Tom's blue irises filled with confusion. He figured he should be annoyed with her vagueness and he was but his desire to console her and banish the terrible fright in her eyes was stronger. He reminded himself that she had not asked him to come here, hell she'd pleaded with him not to and he wondered if it was because she was wary of telling him about the many troubled things in her life. Confession was never easy especially not if it was about something traumatic that you just wanted gone from your mind, now that Tom understood better than most.

“Alright, well let's get away from the planes then,” he suggested with a faint attempt at humour in his tone. “Do you have a coat?”

Cadence shook her head. “I left it on the plane.” She forced up another smile. “I'm always leaving my coat behind me,” she jested.

Tom nodded again, he couldn't imagine why she had taken it off on the plane, the aircrafts weren't usually warm and his had been unpleasantly icy carrying the D.C chill with it.

“Do you have any other luggage to get?” she queried as her stare darted to the small travel case he had in his right hand.

Tom shook his head. “No, this is it. I had to pack quick.”

Cadence's apologetic look returned. “I'm happy to see you Tom, I really am but I wish you hadn't done this. I called you because I wanted to talk to you but it wasn't to persuade you to drop everything for me and come here, I wouldn't do that.”

Tom reached out to her at last, giving a small smile as he stretched up his free hand to cradle her right cheek loosely. “Cady, I understand that and I don't think you manipulated me into coming here. Look, it's not going to be perfect between us, it isn't for anyone, but don't ask me to ignore a desire to help you. It's not a weakness for you to need someone and it's not selfish either.”

Tom pressed his nose against hers before he cocked his head and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“Let's get the hotel sorted, I have a preference for The Langham, great river view,” Tom murmured as he pulled back from her.

He linked his free hand to Cadence's and started to walk through the airport.

“Isn't that expensive?” Cadence quipped.

Tom tilted his head to shoot her a teasing smile. “I can concede to paying for my luxury needs and, since I am making you suffer the pains of a quality five star bed, I shall pay for your trouble too.”

Cadence frowned slightly at this. “I'm not asking you to Tom,” she said quietly. “I agreed I would owe you for coming here so I suppose a night in a nice hotel is the least I can do.”

“Cady charmed as I am by that you're definitely not paying for my snobbery,” Tom mused happily as they escaped the bowels of the airport and reached a section of payphones, a services desk and the main exit doors.

Tom released Cadence's hand and gestured to the phones before holding up one finger to her. “Give me a minute or two,” he added as he raised another finger, “while I make some calls and get our rooms sorted. I know it's terribly egotistical of me but I find if I use my title it helps but you'll forgive me for that if it gets you an extra comfortable pillow.”

“Rooms?” Cadence echoed as she stared up at him in puzzlement.

Tom lowered his hand before taking a step towards her. “Cady,” he addressed her solemnly in a quiet tone, “I'm not going to make assumptions on something like that. We haven't been together long.”

Cadence studied Tom's serious expression taking in the sincerity in his pale blue stare. “Do you think...we could just sleep?” she queried. “It's late and I'm tired that's all but I have no problem sharing a room with you and it will save us on cost,” she added with a small smile.

“Hmm well when you put it so practically in the cold terms of cash rather than feelings how can I say no?” he queried sardonically before the seriousness faded from his face for joy. “Alright.” He grinned again. “Let me make the call.”

Tom hurried off to the phones leaving Cadence to stand and stare out at the rain. Even with the lights from passing vehicles aiding travellers with another part of their journey it was still dark outside and each time the glass doors slid open to grant someone escape, a cold rush of air sneaked in with a damp mist from the heavy downpour.

Cadence tried to think of anything other than Robbie but it was impossible given it was why she was here. He had died on a night just like tonight, alone in the dark, the rain taking away all evidence of his killers as he bled out cold and terrified. She winced as she wondered how long it had taken him to die, how long he had lain there in agony hoping for help and when he had realised none was coming and it was too late. Had he even thought that? The only thing Cadence didn't have to imagine was the pain of the knife, she knew that, she had inflicted it upon herself, sure he had been stabbed whilst she had sliced but she knew the sting of the sharp blade on the flesh, the sudden rush of blood and the dizziness and fear as too much of it leaked out.

Tom glanced over to Cadence as he waited for the hotel to pick up on the phone. He saw how she was fiddling with her blazer buttons again.

\----

Cadence didn't take in much of The Langham, she was too eager to change out of her wet garments and crawl into a dry, warm bed to appreciate the spacious, ultra modern lobby. She let Tom check them in, wondering momentarily how the congressman could still find the energy to conjure up his merry, easygoing persona for the hotel staff despite the lateness of the hour. She gave a small smile when she heard him introduce himself as 'Congressman Landis' and figured there was something of a slight ego to him even if he was much more subtle about it than John. When Tom glanced back to Cadence with a wave and a flash of a smile she did wonder if maybe he was using his title to ensure a smooth check in for her benefit rather than his own.

She smiled back as she pushed his crimson scarf closer with one hand and nuzzled her chin against the soft wool. When she had refused his offer of his coat at the airport he had bundled his scarf about her joking that he had felt throttled by it anyway.

Tom waved off the offer of aid to their room before accepting two key cards and returning to Cadence. “Tenth floor but we can take the elevator,” he mused.

Cadence was agreeable to the suggestion as fatigue had her dreading ten flights of stairs. They got the elevator with ease and exited to a brightly lit corridor, which they headed down to room 1016.

As Cadence stepped into the room she became stoic as her stare locked upon the promised riverside view. Despite the twinkling lights from the opposing tower blocks and the midnight inky spill of the night time river they reflected upon the only thing clear to Cadence was the violent spill of silvery raindrops. The noise was a relentless patter against the glass, distracting even with the thickness of the pane.

Tom stepped into the extravagant suite and headed for the luxurious king size bed. “Do you want the bathroom first?” he quipped.

Cadence tore her gaze from the window to look in Tom's direction. Her grey-blue stare widened a fraction as she finally took in the opulence of their suite. “Wow Tom, all this for one night?” she quipped with a sardonic hint to her voice. “What would you have done for a week, insisted on a palace?”

Tom gestured about the large room with his hands as he gave her a false puzzled stare and a small smile. “I fail to see the problem,” he retorted.

“There's a plant,” Cadence murmured as she pointed to the potted green plant resting in an expensive looking vase on a polished, round topped end table. “Our suite comes with a plant.”

“It's décor,” Tom mused.

“Well that's not nice Tom,” Cadence scolded him, “plants are living things you know, this guy is just trying to live his best life, it's not his fault someone's decided to make an ornament of him.”  
Tom cocked his head slightly as his pale blue eyes darted over to the unobtrusive plant. “What makes it a him?” he queried.

Cadence shrugged. “Something to do with biology I guess,” she answered with a faint smile. She glanced about the suite again as she tugged her case along. “Why don't you have the bathroom first? It's the very least I can do.”

Tom took a step towards her as his grin widened, stretching up the right side of his face as it often did. “You just can't work out where it is, can you?”

Cadence turned her smile up to him. “Not a clue, this place is bigger than my apartment.”

“But nowhere near as charming,” Tom mused.

The congressman kissed Cadence lightly on the tip of her nose before he veered for the bathroom. “I'll be quick, I promise,” he called back as he tugged his case with him.

Cadence occupied a seat on the end of the bed and fixed her gaze back to the naked windows. She watched the rainstorm, transfixed as the pane was submitted to the mercy of the heavy droplets. She could hear the crack of gunshots overriding the roar of a tropical rainstorm and tensed up again as she turned her gaze to one side.

She had grown up in this city and yet it felt so strange to her. She hadn't been in Chicago in years but being back did not fill her with a desire to seek out any old haunts. When Robbie had died so too had her childhood here.

She sank the balls of her hands into the thick duvet, rolling back on the edge of the bed slightly as she wondered at her impulsive decision to finally come back. A small, bitter smile slipped out as she realised it was her idea of therapy whilst avoiding actual therapy. Confront her fears, face her bad memories and all that jazz. Really she just wanted to no longer be the woman tensing at the rain, needing to be medicated to fly and diving under tables at loud banging noises.

“Cady?”

Cadence glanced up at Tom's concerned voice and only when she had to keep looking past her kneecaps did she realise she had her legs hoisted up on the bed and was hugging them against her. She unwrapped her arms from her legs and let them slide harmlessly over the edge of the bed again.

“Nice t-shirt,” she murmured.

Tom was wearing a grey t-shirt with Baltimore printed on it in a faded navy font and a pair of black boxers exposing his slightly gangly, dark haired legs.

“I'd to pack quick,” Tom reminded her, “and I don't normally wear a top to bed. I mean it was this or the Republicans Forever one and I'm not sure how you'd feel about that.” He gave her a grin before gesturing to his right with one hand. “Bathroom is through there, just follow the lights, I left them on for you, and yes, there is a rubber duck.”

Cadence's smile widened as she stood up and reached for the handle of her travel case. “I'm a little disappointed you didn't say rubber swan given this place, is it gilded at least?” she queried teasingly.

“How would it float then?” Tom retorted.

“Good point, see you're so much more than a tax hating Republican Tom.”

Cadence headed off, following the lights to the bathroom. She wasn't surprised to find the bathroom was as extravagant and modern as the rest of the suite, following the theme of bright cream walls and flooring with marble tops, enough fluffy white towels to last a month and another small, hopeful, potted plant.

Cadence ignored the bath, it was late, she was tired and she knew Tom had to be too so she washed and dressed quickly. Glimpsing her reflection in the mirror, she frowned and hugged her arms.

Cadence hadn't been expecting to share a suite with anyone on the Texas trip so her pyjamas were a comfortable cream vest top and turquoise shorts, both plain and cotton, designed for comfort rather than appeal but despite not being styled for sexiness she suddenly found them too revealing. Her grey-blue gaze darted up and down at the pink etchings on her limbs, their varied shades of pink showing their age like the rings of a tree. The oldest scars remained the worst, deep vertical, jagged lines of a pink so dark it was almost crimson at her wrists, an eternal reminder of the blood that had once been freed there.

Cadence sucked in a breath as a white, fluffy object caught her eye in the mirror. She had dismissed it for one of the never ending towels but now as she glanced over her shoulder to it she realised it was one of a pair of bathrobes. She figured Tom had to know about her self-harm, her suicide attempt had made the papers after all but he couldn't possibly know that it hadn't ended after that first attempt and that instead whilst she forewent attempts on her life there was still a need for pain, to punish herself on the worst of her guilty days, or to distract herself when she felt helpless or so full of rage she couldn't find any other outlet for it.

Cadence tugged on one of the robes, knotted the band about her sloppily and retreated from the bathroom, flicking the lights off as she went.

Tom was already in the bed, under the covers and sitting upright with his back supported by two pillows. The curtains were closed and the only lights on were the two bedside ones. He read the unease on Cadence's face and resisted making a quip about the bathrobe.

Cadence sat on the edge of the bed on her side of it this time. “Do you mind if we turn the lights off?” she queried quietly.

“No.” Tom reached over and flicked a switch at the wall, which turned both lamps off.

Plunged into darkness, Cadence felt easier about unknotting the robe and letting it puddle on the floor. She raised her feet and slid under the covers hastily, half afraid that Tom would somehow catch a glimpse of her scars even in the shadows.

The bed was large, spacious enough that the pair were able to lie in it without contact. Cadence knew she could say 'goodnight' and Tom would answer with the same and go to sleep without a complaint or even an attempt to kiss her out of respect for her space. She also knew that if he wasn't here she would have spent a restless night alone with her dark thoughts.

The young woman moved across the bed impulsively until she felt the heat of his body. Turned to face him, she moved a hand up and about his torso to embrace him loosely.

Tom raised his right hand wordlessly and wrapped it about her, drawing her closer to him. He edged her head up to rest on his chest and remained with his hand at her back, drawing circles on it with his fingertips.

“It's going to be okay,” he murmured reassuringly.

Cadence didn't even realise how much she had needed someone to say that to her until Tom did. “Thank you,” she retorted sincerely.

\---

It had taken Leo a while to hear the truth of Cadence's current location but once it was revealed to him it became public knowledge amongst his staff quickly. It was funny how something that had taken a lot of effort for him to learn was now suddenly free gossip throughout the West Wing.

“Dad you are not getting on a plane!” Mallory scolded him as she stood opposite his desk, towering over him as he sat and huffed in his chair.

Leo glowered up at her as he snapped at some more admin down the phone to get him plane tickets to Chicago.

Leo put his hand on the receiver. “Mallory I am, what the hell is she doing in Chicago by herself? I'll be speaking to Hoynes about this!”

“Vice President Hoynes,” Mallory corrected him as she raised her hands to her hips and shook her head. “And I don't think he's Vice President of Cadence's travel plans, she has the Democratic right to get on a plane to Chicago you know.”

Leo gave Mallory a look of suspicion. “Mallory, did you know about this? Did she tell you? Surely you know by now that she's not a good flyer and you know why,” Leo scorned his eldest child, “and you know she isn't in Chicago for fun!”

Mallory continued to frown at her father. “Dad she's twenty-three years old, almost twenty-four, she's old enough to make these decisions herself and if she wanted us there she would have said.”

It was just after four in the afternoon and Mallory had come to the White House as soon as her classes at school had ended. She wasn't going to admit it to her father but she had received Cadence's brief courtesy call early in the morning, it was a tired but typically Cadence blunt confession of having stopped in Chicago as the Vice President's Christmas campaigning had been cut short. It was only when Mallory had threatened to hop on a plane and voiced some serious concern about Cadence being on her own in Chicago of all places that her sister had confessed that Tom Landis was there too. Mallory had been intrigued and even when Cadence had insisted it wasn't a getaway or anything like that, Mallory had still been happy for her sister that the congressman had felt a need to join her in Chicago.

Leo lowered his hand from his receiver as someone started to speak back. He didn't retort as his office door was opened and Jed stepped in with a perfectly neutral expression.

“Mallory, good afternoon,” Jed greeted merrily.

Mallory gave Jed a slightly scornful look as she folded her arms. “Is it good sir?” she queried wearily.

“Who's your father on the phone with?” Jed pried as he nodded in the flustering Leo's direction.

“The airlines I think,” Mallory answered, “trying to get a flight to Chicago.”

Jed smiled. “My wife owes me ten dollars,” he said cheerfully. “I said to her, hun the moment Leo hears Landis is there, he's booking a flight. She argued that Leo wouldn't be quite as bad as that, apparently only I am so dramatically overprotective when it comes to the younger daughters,” he said in a voice heavy with sarcasm as he pushed his hands to his chest in a self gesture before puffing it out proudly and grinning as he concluded, “but I knew it, I did.”

Leo's jaw dropped slightly as his eyes enlarged with his shock before the rage caught up to him. “Landis is there?!” he roared. “What did he do teleport? Is he that eager to get her alone and in a hotel, that's so sleazy, I knew a Republican would be bad for her!”

Jed winced slightly whilst Mallory's eyes widened a fraction before she gave a slight smirk.

“Oh dear, I thought he knew that part,” Jed said quietly to Mallory as Leo continued to rant.

Mallory glanced over to Jed calmly. “Apparently not, how did you learn that sir?”

Jed tapped his head pointedly with one finger. “I'm the President, I tend to learn these things,” he said knowingly. “Or,” he added jovially as he lowered his hand, “it could be because the Republican party have some terrible gossips in their party and we have something of the same within our own party. Congressman Landis cancelled a meeting at the nth hour to debate suggesting a motion for tax cuts for guardians,” Jed explained, “a meeting he's struggled to arrange many, many times. Given it's a change his party might've gotten passed through Congress meaning a loss for us, I'm not that disappointed about it. Now I don't think too many realise why he's gone to Chicago, I mean only the entire West Wing seems to know Cadence is there but for those of us that do know both these things, it's hard to believe it's a coincidence.”

Mallory looked surprised as her arms slipped down by her side. “So you're saying Tom cancelled an important meeting so he could be with Cady in Chicago?”

Jed nodded. “It seems so, certainly I had Josh and Toby try to find out his real motive since they are both so keen on the story today but, try as they might, Toby in particular who probably holds a notion that Tom has a secret handshake amongst his peers and conducts full moon rituals to earn votes, they could only conclude that Chicago is an inconvenience for Congressman Landis.”

“He's a perverted creep,” Leo snarled, “imagine being so...so needy for that,” he struggled for the right words to say as his rage continued to grow, “that you run to catch the first flight you could for a hookup. No not you,” Leo snapped down the phone, “I wasn't calling you a perverted creep! Why would I call you that?” he continued to rant. “It was directed at the man who's barely been dating my hardly out of college daughter but has dropped everything to join her in a seedy hotel!”

“Alright Leo,” Jed chided him, “I don't think whoever is on the phone needs to hear your parental problems nor do I think poor Congressman Landis has done anything of the sort.”

Leo glanced up at Jed in shock before frowning as if he'd been betrayed. “Forget it,” he grumbled before slamming down the phone in anger. “Why else is he there then?” he snapped up to Jed and Mallory.

“Well he might know about Robbie,” Mallory pointed out, “that was in the papers. Although, we don't know that's why Cady is there but dad, you can't think she'd pick Chicago to have a romantic getaway with her new boyfriend and he is her boyfriend dad and they are adults so if that's what they're at it really doesn't make him a pervert.”

Leo leaned into his palms in despair. “Mallory don't,” he begged, “I must always believe you and Cadence are innocent until you marry because if I can't have that belief then Sam is joining Landis in whatever hole I can hide them.”

“Dad that's a little medieval,” Mallory chided.

Leo lowered his hands and frowned up at his daughter once more. “Mallory I let you have unicorns when you were six, let me have this.”

Margaret, Leo's ever faithful secretary, leaned round the edge of the doorway with a curious look. “Sir, I've got your daughter on the phone for you.”

Leo looked surprised before he frowned again. “Good, I want to talk to her,” he snapped. “Put her through.”

Margaret nodded before darting back to her desk to transfer the call.

\---

Cadence awoke to a grey morning, disturbed by the sound of rain pattering against the windowpanes. She had sat upright and looked through the semi-darkness the room was kept in thanks to heavy drapes as she reminded herself of where she was and why. She realised she had no real plan except to go to the site of Robbie's murder and hope for some sort of closure. She didn't know what she would find there or what she wanted to find there.

“I think, given that delightful weather outside, the first thing to do is get you a coat.”

Cadence turned in surprise as Tom's quiet voice. He was still lying down, pale blue eyes alert suggesting he had been awake for a while.

As she stared at him and took in his features, Cadence suddenly became conscious of how if he was visible to her in the faint morning light slipping by the drapes then she was just the same to him. She hugged her bare arms instinctively before glancing down to fumble with the edges of the covers resting at her lap.

“Cady I won't ask if you don't want me to,” Tom said gently, “but don't feel you have to hide it.”

Cadence hesitated in trying to shield herself with the covers. She wondered how in the hell Tom was always so insightful about things, was it a gift or a talent he had worked on? She realised it would probably make him formidable as a politician if only he chose ruthlessness over easygoing charm. It had her wondering if Tom was capable of ruthlessness. John had the perfect balance of both charm and savagery, it was why he had risen as high as he had but it was also why he could never fully be trusted and why as close as Cadence had gotten to him she would never be as close to him as she wanted.

Cadence let her arms go limp by her side as she stared stoically down with shame.

“Well you must know,” she said with a cool calm, “it was in the papers. How I tried to take my life after Robbie was killed, they suggested mental illness must run in the family given dad's past addictions and perhaps it does.” She shrugged. “What they neglected to say is that it didn't stop there for me. I did have remorse, I truly did, they had to give me blood to save me.” Cadence clenched her hands and winced at the reminder. “I can't give blood transfusions because I've had one so I give money to the blood clinics but it's not enough and it's hypocritical really when I snub the gift of life they gave to me by continuing the pattern of pain but I...” She dipped her head slightly and shook it. “Sometimes the darkness just comes.”

Cadence tried to summon back her indifference as she glanced up to Tom defiantly. “I know, it's not what you signed up for, none of this is. I did try to warn you,” she added with a faint smile.

She tensed when Tom took her hands in his and pulled them out slightly. He raised them in turn to his mouth and planted a light kiss on each wrist.

“Cady you really need to let go of the guilt,” he addressed her seriously as his gaze shifted up to meet hers. “You didn't get this boy killed and you hurting yourself after his death wasn't a good reaction but it's not something you should blame yourself for, you couldn't deal with your grief. I understand you've had other problems since, things in Colombia, people dying, you've said a little about it, enough for me to know you want to take the blame for those deaths too but you shouldn't. I think you've had a lot for your lifetime and you're not alone in that.”

Tom flashed her another of his endearing, crooked grins. “I promise you I'll present you with problems too, not just because I'm a Republican either, but because that's how life goes. Now, I think there's something between us, I really do but what do you think?”

Cadence smiled back before she leaned forward and gave Tom a kiss. He released her hands and she instantly raised them to grasp his shoulders and pull him closer to her. Cadence thought about how young their relationship was but she didn't care, she wanted his warmth and comfort and she wanted to feel some joy on this dreary morning.

Tom let out a low moan as he continued to kiss Cadence when one of her hands slid down his shoulder and chest and kept moving lower.

“Cady we don't have-” Tom's half-hearted protest was ruined by another delighted moan of pleasure as her hand slipped into his boxers and stirred his member to life.

It started out passionate and fast as they struggled clumsily to remove the other's night garments. It was a brief tangle of limbs and hand fumbling in sensitive spots before they finally got a rhythm going.

Cadence wasn't surprised to discover Tom was a generous lover, patient in the bed, calm and steady until she urged him to speed. He lacked John's talent with his hands but then John had always been as smooth with his fingers as he was with his silver tongue and Tom was here for her on her terms, something John had avoided.

Their lovemaking was gentle, ending pleasurably but without a fiery finish full of passionate outbursts and desperate thrusts to drag the ecstasy out. Tom didn't offer up any thrills, there were no brutal shows of hip thrusting or pushing to express his carnal desires, no dramatic changes of positioning or attempts to throw Cadence down on the floor for domination.

Despite all of Tom's plain offerings of pleasure suggesting he was a little out of practice, Cadence still enjoyed every minute of it. She was thrilled just to feel his warm, naked body against hers, exposed and vulnerable just as she was. She knew he desired her happiness as much as his own and it filled her with a fondness and joy that John couldn't make her feel because no matter how much he wanted for her happiness he still wanted his own more. John had welcomed her to his home for sex only after he had phoned first, on a night when his wife was away and he could ensure secrecy. Tom had come here on a whim, responding to a plea in her voice she had not even realised she had given. He had offered to book separate rooms for them, took the edge of the bed and had not even sought out a kiss until Cadence had permitted it. With Tom it was all on her terms, a novelty Cadence knew she would struggle to come to terms with for a while and one which she would definitely have to repay in kind.

When it was done there was no thought of regret, no worry that it was too soon or concern that maybe sex was all Tom had wanted in the end. Cadence lay curled up against him, deeply satisfied both physically and emotionally.

“Well I guess I'd better buy you a really nice coat then,” Tom joked.

Cadence elbowed him lightly causing a feigned yelp to escape him.

“Alright, with a matching hat and gloves too,” Tom continued to tease, “but no scarf, that scarf I gave you is nice enough.”

“Snob,” Cadence teased back.

“Just good taste,” Tom retorted smugly.

Cadence sat up and gave him another smile. “Well I'm going to give my sister a quick call and then have a bath.”

“Hmm so I should have my shower first lest you use the hot water,” Tom mused as he pushed himself upright. “Alright then, say hi to Mallory for me, that is,” he hesitated and gave Cadence a calm, slightly serious stare, “if I'm supposed to be here.”

“You definitely are Tom,” Cadence answered before she gave him a kiss. “Well, that is if you want to be,” she continued with the same awkward tone he had used, “I mean I don't have to tell her that if you don't want it getting out.”

“Getting out that I finally have a girlfriend? A young, beautiful one at that, oh I definitely do want that getting out.” Tom grinned proudly at this before cocking his head slightly. “Of course some people might say you're too young for me, what age are you anyway, twenty-six, twenty-seven?”

Cadence's cheeks turned a rosy pink at this as she realised they had never actually had the age discussion. “Twenty-three,” she confessed.

Tom blanched slightly and the joyous spark in his almost clear blue stare was swapped for a look of amazed shock instead.

A moment of silence passed before Cadence was compelled to ask, “and what age are you Tom?”

Tom swallowed hard. “Um...thirty-eight.”

Cadence smiled at him hopefully. “Well it doesn't bother me.”

Tom grimaced just a little before nodding. “Yeah, I'll get that shower now.” Tom stood up from the bed and hastened off leaving Cadence confused and a little concerned.

There was no opportunity to discuss their ages again. Once they had washed, dressed and headed to the hotel restaurant for breakfast Tom had simply avoided the topic. They had talked about the weather and coats, dancing around both the issue of their ages and their purpose here- Robbie Donovan. After breakfast, the hotel had happily secured them a private driver for the day and offered up a discount on their boutique store when Tom had mentioned getting Cadence a coat.

Cadence entered the small boutique store and was unsurprised to see a limited number of designer items on each rack. There were suits, scarves, gloves, hats, gloves and shoes catered to men and women but no sign of jeans, t-shirts, hoodies or sneakers. She balked at the price tags on all the coats and looked to Tom protestingly.

“It's a little pricier than I need,” Cadence remarked quietly, wary of offending the sales assistant with her poverty.

Tom waved off Cadence's worries. “Pick what you like,” he insisted, “we can forget the gloves if you want but you're definitely getting a coat, it's miserable out there.”

Cadence nodded even as she continued to look at tags rather than the coats themselves, half-afraid to sully one with her touch. “Well let me pay for it then,” she insisted.

“Nope,” Tom retorted chirpily.

The sales assistant intervened, offering up her services by looking Cadence up and down, plucking a few suggestions off the rack and insisting Cadence try them on. She did it all with a smile and cheer, not flinching or frowning when Cadence faltered with buttons and complained about itchy material.

Cadence settled on a form fitting rain coat of dark blue wool with a hood and brass buttons. Tom insisted to the sales assistant that no bag was needed as Cadence would be wearing it, so the tags were all safely removed before he paid for it without flinching, swiping his card quickly before Cadence could tug her wallet out from her satchel in attempt to pay.

They exited the shop and headed through the lobby to the main entrance where the driver was waiting patiently.

Tom reached for Cadence's right hand gently to hold her back before she could step out to the rain.

Cadence glanced up at him expectantly as he fidgeted with his own coat, tugging back the lapel to reveal the lapel of his blazer where a familiar Chessie pin glinted. Tom tugged the pin off before reaching out to pin it on the lapel of Cadence's coat.

“There,” he said happily as he released it, “consider it an extra reason to remember this coat. Chessie disappears enough without you helping,” he joked.

Cadence smiled again. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

Tom's stare turned serious again. “I know it's not a big thing for us to have fifteen years between us,” he said wistfully, “not when we're both adults but it's going to take me a moment to adjust to it. You're in your early twenties, I feel a little like I'm robbing you from some fun experiences with college boys.”

“I dropped out of college two years ago,” Cadence murmured softly, “and thanks to Colombia I grew up fast.” Cadence frowned and stiffened slightly as she thought of her second trip there and that brief moment of lost time that she never wanted to think about.

Tom nodded. “Well alright, if you don't mind dating someone my age then I won't dwell on it.”

“I don't mind dating you Tom,” Cadence said as she smiled again and gave him a kiss, “I don't mind that at all.”

Tom smiled as she kissed him before leading her out to the car.

The drive was just over an hour. The traffic was as busy as expected for an afternoon in the city and the day remained grey and drizzly. Cadence was too full of dread for their destination to appreciate the luxury of sitting in a car with space, comfortable seats and heating. It was a smooth ride coupled with the low playing of classical music to try and counter the ambience of the miserable day outside.

When they arrived the driver glanced in the mirror to Tom and Cadence expectantly. “Where should I park?” he quipped.

Tom glanced out of the tinted windows. There wasn't much distinctive about the street, there were some takeaways with their shutters closed, heavy, black iron fencing along a large strip of the sidewalk sheltering a park behind it and a partially vacant parking lot that served a laundromat and a video rental.

“The parking lot will do,” Tom retorted. He wondered where the ATM was or if it even existed anymore.

Cadence was wondering the same think as she turned a hollow stare out of the window, watching as the rain fell and remembered that it had been heavier all those years ago.

The driver complied, holding back his thoughts that he didn't think the area was all that suitable for a car as fancy as the one he was steering. He figured at least the area seemed quiet, either it was a blessing or a trap.

Once the car was parked, Tom looked at Cadence expectantly.

Cadence glanced over at Tom before unbuckling her seatbelt. “It was just across the road,” she murmured.

“Didn't he have a lift waiting?” Tom blurted out. “I mean...there's nothing around here,” he added lamely.

“This is Bramble Park Avenue,” Cadence explained quietly, “we lived at Bramble Park Lane, it's actually the other side of the park entirely and you can't cut through the park after nine but Robbie,” she hesitated saying his name and her body tautened slightly, “he didn't know the area. He wasn't as close as he thought,” she murmured as she felt her eyes turn wet with tears, “they think he got dropped off here to lift money out and sent the taxi on because he thought he could walk round, even in the rain. He must have thought he close, God Tom it took hours before we could find him, even when dad had people out looking for him, knowing he was supposed to be at my house, he wasn't close enough for them or anyone else to notice.”

Cadence slackened again as she shook her head miserably. She turned to the door, pausing to tug up her hood before she opened the door and headed out into the rain.

“Just give us a few minutes,” Tom compelled the driver.

“As long as you, the hotel said I'm your driver for the day,” came the calm retort.

Tom nodded before he headed out into the rain as well.

Cadence was already walking, moving slowly as she searched for the spot. The ATM was still standing, she could see it from across the road, nestled in a graffitied, brown brick building with blackened windows and worn, forgotten signs indicating failed businesses.

She tensed as Tom's hand slipping into hers startled her slightly. Her moistened blue-grey eyes turned up to him though it was clear she didn't know what emotion to offer him in them.

“It's got to be weird bringing a new boyfriend to the spot where...where another died,” she concluded woefully.

“A little,” Tom agreed, “but good therapy I'm sure and believe me Cady, I'd rather I was here than you were doing this alone.”

They headed across the road at the traffic lights before reaching the ATM, which a cracked screen that was lit up with 'Out of Order'. It was a few feet from it, away from the spying ATM camera that Robbie had been killed for his cash. Cadence searched about for a camera but there was none nor a street light. There was nothing she could see to indicate that anything had ever happened here.

“God damn it,” she cursed into the mild downpour. “Why aren't there any cameras? Do they want someone else to get stabbed for their money? Does it not matter?!” she shouted angrily as she broke free from Tom.

The congressman watched silently as she walked on, staring up, down and around angrily searching for some sign of security or some indication that poor Robbie Donovan had died here. He realised as she twisted and turned about that she was trying to guess at the exact spot where the man had taken his last breath but she couldn't.

Tom racked his brain trying to think who the senators and representatives of Illinois where. There were two senators, Democrats so he wasn't all that familiar with them, and eighteen representatives, only a handful of which were Republican, three of them were new this year, he knew that because they were all Republicans who had taken Democrat seats. There were four for Chicago, all Democrats, which had Tom wondering why Leo or the President hadn't used some influence to get this spot secured with CCTV. He knew such a simple gesture wouldn't have been expensive or difficult and could easily have been done under the radar if they didn't want publicity.

Cadence was shaking her head in confusion as tears streaked her cheeks. “I know it was here, it was, he died here but why...why doesn't it seem like it? Why isn't there anything?” She sighed and wiped away her tears. “God who am I to ask that? I've never come here, never even left flowers, I was a coward.”

Tom walked towards her slowly, halting just a few inches from her. He reached out to her hands, taking them in his gloved ones and squeezing them gently. “Cady, I know you want there to be something here because you need the world to remember that he suffered and died here because it's the memory that's always stayed with you but can you consider something else?”

Cadence looked up at Tom in confusion, her face white with the chill of the air and damp with the rain and tears. “What Tom?” she queried quietly.

“I think it's always better to remember where someone lived not where they died. This was not a good place or time for him and I didn't know him but I don't think it's the memory he would want you to have of him nor do I think he'd want it to be the one you choose to repeat of him.”

“Do I just forget then?” she asked sorrowfully. “Like everyone else here evidently has?”

“Cady no one that he mattered to has ever forgotten him I'm sure but what you're asking is for people to remember the violence and the death, to be chained down to it like you are and that's not helpful.”

Tom's tone became serious and firm as he continued to hold her hands, squeezing them not to hurt but as if to anchor her to him. 

“People need to be able to move on and attempt to welcome happiness back into their lives.” he said firmly. “I think people should learn from acts like this but they should always move forward from them, they shouldn't be trapped in the memory of them forever, hoping that constantly thinking about the horror is some sort of worthy penance to the victim. That's why you torture yourself over and over again because you think it should've been you, you here in Chicago that night, not Robbie, you in Colombia, not those villagers, you in D.C, not that suicidal man who's name you still won't say to me. You think because you didn't die you should suffer some other way then to make it up to them but Cady that isn't what they would want.”

Cadence stared up at him woefully as tears soaked her face. “How do you know that Tom?” she demanded doubtfully.

Tom smiled but this time it was a crooked weak grin full of bitterness. “Because I have been there Cady, I have been the survivor full of guilt and blame.”

Cadence looked surprised at this but when Tom shook his head she knew it was not a confession she was getting today.

“If you really want to leave something here we can get the car to take you to a shop for flowers or a card or whatever is you want,” Tom offered.

Cadence bowed her head as she considered it. She agreed with what Tom said to a degree but it still disturbed her that no changes had been made to the street since Robbie's passing save for perhaps a few new swears sprayed onto the walls and fresh cracks in the worn pavement.

Her grey-blue eyes darted about the sidewalk again. “I'm going to petition for CCTV,” she said stubbornly, “and lights as well, if I can do that for him it's something.”

Tom nodded agreeably at this. “Well it's Democrats who hold the power for that,” he advised, “so you should know where to start.”

Cadence nodded confidently at this. “I do.” She gave Tom a faint flash of a grateful smile. “We can go back to the car.”

Tom smiled back. “Good, lunch then?”

“Sure.”

The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly for the pair. They had a nice lunch at a popular restaurant in the main hub of the city before retreating to the hotel and sorted their flight back to D.C. When they returned to their room to pack, Cadence also decided to ring her father.

She wasn't surprised when the jovial Margaret received her call before passing her through to Leo.

“Cadence what in the hell are you doing in Chicago?” Leo's irate voice demanded before Cadence could even speak. “And with him?” he added in a snarl as if Tom was a demonic entity whose name could not be spoken. 

“Firstly, hello dad,” Cadence retorted sardonically as she sat on the edge of the bed twisting the phone cord about her fingers, “secondly, who told you Tom was here? Mallory?”

“It doesn't matter who! Why are you there? Why is he? Is he taking advantage of you? Is he? He's irresponsible abandoning business to...to...well I won't even say it!” Leo spluttered.

Cadence smiled when she heard Mallory's recognisable chortles in the background. “Say hi to Mallory for me,” she said brightly. “Look dad, calm down please. Yes, I'm in Chicago and you can stop worrying, I've got a flight booked to return to D.C, I'll be heading to the airport in under an hour.”

“How can I not worry? You hate flying and you're with a perverted Republican,” he added angrily.

“Dad!” Cadence snapped. “It's not like that!”

Tom arched a dark eyebrow as he seemed to catch some of what Leo was shouting. He had just returned from the bathroom with the rubber duck in hand.

“I called Tom to tell him I was coming here and he knew I needed someone so he came to help me.”

“I would've come!”

“I know dad which is why I didn't ring you until now, you would have only tried to talk me out of what I needed to do.”

“Which was what Cadence? You still haven't told me!” Leo reminded her angrily.

Cadence winced as she got her full name from her father. “I...” She twisted the cord again as her gaze darted up to the window which had raindrops dribbling down it. “I had to see where Robbie died,” she confessed. “I keep going back to it over and over, it and Colombia, those poor people were gunned down in the rain like animals.” She swallowed hard and bowed her head. “And I can't stop thinking about it, I can't get control of it, every time it rains or there's a loud noise I smell the burning of the gun residue and I feel a nozzle against my head.” She closed her eyes and trembled slightly. “I feel the damp when it rains and I think God this is it, this is where it ends for me. I've been so lucky surviving when others don't but this is it now. I begged every time dad, I'm not brave like you, they threatened me and I begged and I lied again and again.”

“Cady you talk like I can't relate to it but I can baby girl, I can,” Leo said gently. “I know exactly what it's like to bleed out in the rain, in the dark surrounded by enemies and thinking death is coming. I know the fear, I know how rainfall brings back the memories of violence and loud noises remind you of the gunfire that brings death.”

Cadence tensed up and realised how stupid and selfish she had been to think her father couldn't understand when he had almost died in the jungles of Vietnam. “But you're so much stronger than me dad,” she said quietly, her voice almost breaking as she only just held back the sob, “you wouldn't have gotten abducted all over again, you wouldn't have cried and begged, I know you wouldn't have but I did and then I lied.” She started to cry. “I lied to live.”

When she started sobbing, Tom plucked the phone from her hand gently and leaned down to talk into it as he couldn't raise it too high with the cord still tangled about her fingers.

“Mr McGarry I'm going to her home safely,” Tom addressed him sombrely, “and I'll be looking after her for every second of the journey.”

“And when you get her home?” Leo demanded. “What happens then? I don't know what she's talking about you know,” he said sincerely, “you've only her confused words to take to the press there's no evidence.”

“Sir, I'm sorry we haven't formally met yet,” Tom said politely. “I know we had a run in, in the lobby, when Cadence spoke about things then that I know I never repeated to anyone but there wasn't any kind of introduction for us. I wasn't dating her then either but I am dating her now and I would like for us to meet properly so you can understand that I would never do a thing to harm her and that what I want is for her to be happy because she makes me happy. Now, she's upset, it's been that kind of day, so I'm going to hang up the phone and work on getting her smiling again. Goodbye sir.”

Tom began untangling the phone from Cadence and smiled as he heard a reluctant 'bye' just before he set the phone down.

The congressman took a seat beside Cadence and placed the rubber duck in her lap. It was a pale pink with a dark pink beak.

“It was Colombia,” Cadence said softly as she stared down at her lap. “The second time, a bad thing happened there before I had to make that speech.”

She fidgeted with her fingers in her lap.

“Well, we can talk about it now if you want,” Tom replied quietly.

Cadence sighed and shook her head before giving him a sombre stare. “I think I've done enough of that today and I'm a little drained from it.”

Tom nodded empathetically. “Well, there's no rush, you and I have all the time in the world to share.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flip this chapter was a lot of work, I guess I figured not enough West Wing characters in it but oh well I'm still pleased with it.  
So, turns out Tom Landis is actually a congressman of Maryland not Virginia and there are two Chesapeakes, a city in Virginia and Chesapeake City in Maryland. I'd love to plead British ignorance to this but firstly, a senator/congressman in his one episode appearance clearly states he's of Maryland and secondly, I've been to both Maryland and Virginia and frigging Chesapeake Bay twice, that is I've been to Baltimore twice and posed with the Chessie water boats but hey I only learned John Denver was singing 'West Virginia' and not 'where's Virginia' when my brother-in-law took us to West Virgina and said 'this is where John Denver was singing about'.  
Also, Matt McCoy was 45 when he played Tom Landis but I made Landis a little younger to have less of an age gap with Cadence and because I also thought Josh was in his late thirties, he was not, Bradley Whitford was 44 in that episode. I thought the whole joke was that Sam and Josh were ludicrously for the jobs but thinking about all their qualifications and experience being in their forties is probably more accurate. Although that episode was Season 4 and this is around the Season 2 start so really they’re more like 40/41 in the show at this stage? Oooh well!  
So basically, Tom Landis in this fanfic bares only a slight resemblance to his one episode character appearance on the show.


	40. Politics is Always Personal

John felt exhausted but it wasn't a normal fatigue, it was the world weary tiredness that suggested you were at your limit with the world and had to either give up or make changes. Everything since Rosslyn had been stressful, simple meetings turned into stretched out complications, debates became barked out arguments and the President, despite claiming to have been pleased with John's coverage during his critical state, was now back to his vengeance over a perceived disloyalty in John and a fear over his ambitions, and he trotted John out as his whipping boy every time the Republicans hurled dirt at the Democrats.

Even Texas hadn't done much for the Vice President. His speech had been well received initially but some of his supporters viewed it as a betrayal of his views on gun rights, a belief the Republicans seemed determined to focus on. The Republicans warned that the fickle Vice's talk of change was a forewarning of a change in his view towards gun ownership. Then his calling short of his publicity appearances in Texas out of respect for the victims of the shootings had been sneered about as cowardice and weakness by Senator Whyte who had made a point of visiting the state to offer his own respects and reassurances.

John had felt alienated and weak in his own state, reflecting bitterly that it should have been his place to feel strongest. He knew come the new year he would have to double down in his efforts to win it back or there would be nothing to win when Jed's time was up and his began. The problem was that Jed couldn't seem to understand that, he felt John wasn't focused enough on the party right now, little caring for the fact that he and his West Wing followers ensured the Vice Presidential post was largely ornamental. His one purpose for Jed was to rule only if Jed's health prevented him from doing the same and he had done that so why couldn't the President cut him some slack?

He had resisted turning to the drink for a while, finding the memory of Cadence's disgust and horror at the sight of him drunk in the hotel room as motivation to stay away from the bottle. Returning to D.C and learning of Cadence's whereabouts had him contemplating it again. He couldn't understand why she hadn't confided her desires to go to Chicago to him, did she truly not think he would have accompanied her there if asked? It made him furious to find out who had gone with her.

The news had come from Jeremy when he had learned about some daft rag running a small column about a Christmas romance between political enemies and touted it as a holiday miracle. It had made John want to vomit and yet he couldn't resist demanding Jeremy obtain him a copy of the article.

Now John was seated back in the comforts of the Eisenhower Executive Building reading the column while he waited for Cadence to arrive. It barely covered a page and John worked out quickly that some lucky, nosy gossip columnist had spied Cadence and Tom returning to D.C airport, worked out they had come on the same flight from Chicago and was merely speculating the rest. The mentioning of their hand holding, locking eyes and sharing 'sweet kisses' had John frowning multiple times.

John sat back in his chair and pressed his hands up to his temples. He conjured Congressman Landis to his mind as he tried to work out what the appeal in the man was. Unable to figure it out, he slid his hands back to his desk just as the door was knocked.

“Come in,” John called out.

Cadence stepped in calmly with a polite smile of greeting. “Morning sir,” she said cheerfully.

John caught the whiff of her perfume first, vanilla, a sweet scent he found a little sickly and one he noticed she had been wearing more lately. He wondered why she suddenly favoured it over the jasmine and night orchid brand he was so fond of.

It was the first they had lain eyes on each other since separating in Texas. John had returned five days ago but had been dealing with Cal, Sandra and Gavin. He was aware of Cadence's subtle promoting of his speech in Texas and how she had ensured it received highlights in all the right places without being obvious about calling attention to it. She had also promoted John's family values, pointing out his desire to spend time with his parents in Texas and his plans to see his children on Christmas Day. John had wondered darkly if by doing that she was trying to remind him of his family ties.

John's sharp cerulean stare took her in quickly, searching for some evidence of Chicago in her appearance. He knew, despite the corny column's implication that Cadence had not gone to the city for fun.

She was dressed professionally in a simple grey skirt with a matching jacket, white shirt and a pair of black pantyhose and high heeled black shoes. John's eyes lingered on her legs, shifting down slightly to her shoes as he remembered the day he had made her go running in a similar pair and despite looking idiotic she had given it her all. He thought about the smooth legs concealed beneath the pantyhose before forcing himself to dismiss the idea as his cerulean gaze shifted up to her face. Her expression was neutral, giving little away whilst her hands were by her sides although her fingers twitched slightly betraying an urge to fidget.

“How was Chicago?” John quipped calmly as he raised his dark eyebrows slightly.

Cadence's mouth pursed into a line as her posture stiffened. “I...It was fine sir,” she retorted quietly as she wrestled to maintain calm in her voice.

John nodded as his gaze dropped to the article displayed before him. “Hmm, was it the romantic getaway you hoped for?” he queried sarcastically as he quoted part of the column.

“What?” Cadence's voice shifted from embarrassed surprise to confusion.

Chicago had been a week ago and Cadence already dealt with her father's worried queries about it along with her mother's scorn, which maybe was meant to have some concern in it too but Cadence had missed that. All Cadence would say about the trip was that she was now determined that the spot where Robbie had died got some CCTV and street lighting in it. With the President's permission, she had reached out to the representatives of Chicago to address her query, suggesting a concern that perhaps the city as a whole could do with an increase in security for its citizens.

The young woman stepped up to John's desk and her eyes darted down to the column but she couldn't make out the small, upside down font in his shadow.

John turned his head up to her with an icy gaze. “If you want to sneak off for a romantic rendezvous that's fine,” he said coldly, “but damn it Cady, despite what you think I do still care about you, you could have told me you were going to Chicago, and why, of all places, would you pick there to meet him?”

“That's not how it was,” Cadence hissed out but the shift of her gaze away from John's face and to the floor suggested she wasn't being entirely truthful. She pushed back a strand of fair hair and made herself meet John's gaze again. “After everything in Texas I was thinking about Robbie and I just wanted some sort of closure. I thought I could go to Chicago and finally visit where he died and maybe finally stop obsessing with it.”

It was John's turn to look surprised, his mouth dipped down into a frown as he stood up and hurt flashed through his blue gaze. “Cady, why didn't you tell me? I would've gone with you or sent someone. You're afraid to fly, what were you like on the plane? Why would you bring that kind of trouble on yourself?”

Cadence frowned back at him, determined to be angry but her emotions wavered as she wondered at his hurt. “No sir, you wouldn't have gone with me,” she retorted seriously. “How would that have looked?”

“That doesn't matter,” he scorned as he held out his hands in a helpless gesture, “didn't I bring you to the Naval Observatory drunk and let you sleep it off? Don't you understand I'll take the risks for you? Ever since Colombia you've been pushing me back,” he accused her as he pointed at her with one finger. “Then this Republican comes along with some weak policy about the environment he needs help with and you're suddenly girlfriend of the year,” he sneered.

Cadence frowned at him and folded her arms. “That's not fair John, you have been hot and cold since Rosslyn and...” she trailed off. “Colombia was...it was difficult.”

“Still hiding from it,” he scorned her. “You can't Cady, you can't outrun it, you can't forget it, all these traumas eat you up. Does Landis know? Have you shared any of that with him? I presume you told him about Robbie.”

Cadence nodded as she reached up a hand to fumble with her hair again, pushing it back even though none of it was in her face. “Why are you asking this John? You're married okay and you're staying married because divorced and running off with your young, scandal sullied employee doesn't get you the White House. Please, let me be happy.” Her gaze began pleading as she looked to him, her mouth turning down into a dejected frown.

“Does he make you happy?” John demanded. “Don't I anymore?” He pressed a hand to his chest as fresh hurt and anger filled his fierce cerulean stare. “Didn't I save that raccoon for you? Look after you while you were sick? Get you through Colombia? What does Landis have that I don't?”

“Me John,” she answered quietly, “he has me.”

She slackened her arms and glanced about the room anxiously, suddenly wanting to be anywhere else. She would never voice it aloud but she was grateful for the desk between them, if she was any closer to John trying to keep herself from reaching to him, even just a chaste embrace for comfort, would be too hard to resist. He couldn't know it but he still had a hold on her. Tom wasn't the magic off switch to Cadence's complicated feelings for John but she knew trying to have a relationship with John was self-destructive. He caused her as much pain as pleasure, every stolen kiss brought grief and guilt with it, reminders of what was lost between them and what could never be.

“Is there anything else sir?” she queried, her voice shaky as she failed to summon back her calm to it.

“You made the news again,” he snapped at her, “hardly front line but some barely qualified reporter spotted you and Landis embracing at the airport. You're too damn recognisable this year.” He slammed a finger down to the article on his desk. “It's a sickening read of speculation and hopes for some kind of 'rebel romance' as they termed it. The problem is wordplay like that catches on. As you say, you've enough scandals for the year, do you think your father would appreciate another in time for Christmas? Because that's what they will make it, you're not just a Democrat, you're a formerly fallen one, they're waiting for you to slip up again, you know that, your thesis was treason, they'll probably wonder if you're slipping secrets to the Republican.”

Cadence shook her head angrily at this. “John don't be jealous, it's beneath you.”

John gave her another icy stare. “Cadence, the press have wrote worse about you with less. It is not your fault and I have always said that but for one reason or another you do attract bad news. You've been in the papers a lot for such a short career, why can't you date a Democrat?”

“You're not my father John, don't tell me who to date,” she retorted scornfully. “My actual father isn't.”

“I don't believe for two seconds that Leo is okay with this.”

“John I will still vote Democrat at the polls and Tom will vote Republican, our political beliefs don't come into our personal relationship.”

John raised his finger to point at her angrily. “Cadence, you both work in politics, that's not an option.”

Cadence shook her head again. “John, I'm not talking about my dating life with you anymore. I'm sorry you're hurt but you've hurt me too and I can't keep going like this. I've told you before, it's not enough for me to have you on your terms, to sit and wait for the crumbs and love you only in secret, it's not right, and it's not fair to your wife or your kids. Everything else in my life has been crazy and I need stability right now, I can't maintain all the lies this government asks of me, it's too much and people are dying over it. I just need something that's honest for a change.”

“Well Landis isn't honest Cady, no politician is,” John retorted waspishly. He held up a hand before she could protest. His gaze had softened slightly at her mention of love and he realised that her feelings hadn't stopped, she had merely blocked them. “I won't go on about it anymore because you're right, it is up to you who you date. I just wanted to warn you about the press sniffing around and protect you from another scandal because you don't deserve anymore, you're right about that too, you deserve peace and stability. I want that for you and I want you to continue to have a good career here because I am lucky to have you.”

Cadence raised her eyebrows slightly but she didn't correct John this time as she realised he was right in spite of what she had said. As long as she worked for John he did have her.

“Alright sir, can I go now?” she queried softly. Despite her successful resistance to John she still felt defeated somehow.

John nodded. “Sure, I'll talk to you later.”

\---

Knowing what his trigger was didn't make it any easier for Josh Lyman. It wasn't exactly easy to avoid the sound of trumpets during the Christmas season and coupled with the flashes of twinkling lights on Christmas trees and suddenly it was sirens and the flickering crimson and blue of emergency lights racing through his mind before he could help it.

The therapy was done, the psychiatrists had gotten their breakthrough and Josh had been dismissed with a callous sort of farewell. They had been smug with their swift diagnosis, Josh was textbook, and sure when Christmas passed and the triggers were lessened so too would be his flashbacks of the sordid ordeal. Time was a great fixer too, everyone said that and work was the ultimate distraction. The problem was, he couldn't focus completely on his work and look for its distraction if he was already distracted.

He had found himself in the White House lobby, zoned out to the sound of trumpets until a nudge from Sam had brought him back to the reality. The president had a heavy itinerary, this was the week before Christmas when entertaining expensive carollers mixed with tolerating meetings with the unsatisfied upstarts in the party, and signing off a mile long list of impersonal cards blended with signing off army orders in an attempt to stave off wars but not become vulnerable to them. No one ever wanted war but trying to start one at Christmas was always bad for the vote.

Josh was now walking side by side with Sam, thinking of the fallen in Rosslyn who wouldn't be receiving or sending cards this year. He thought of the unending race war the attack had reminded them off, a war still unresolved and still being fought as Agent Casper's intel had confirmed. Although the advice was that Zoey and Charlie were not active targets anymore, no one was ready to take that for gospel truth and relax.

“Josh? Josh?”

Another nudge from Sam resulted in a confused, “huh?” in response.

“I was asking do you have any Christmas gifts left to get?” Sam prompted as they continued to walk. “I've still a few.”

“Oh. Um...” Josh thought about it. His mother was content spending Christmas with her new beau, she didn't expect her son to rush home for the sake of the season and he was at a loose end considering where he would be for the holidays. He had always despised Christmas since his youth, painful thinking of his absent sister, worse when he had to assign another empty seat to his father. When you made a point of gathering for a family meal, it was always too obvious who was missing at the sparsely occupied dining table.

“Did you buy for Donna?” Sam pried as he tried to help Josh consider who might be on his gift list.

“She buys herself and bills me later,” Josh answered brightly. He smiled fondly at this. “It's a great system, I wish more people could be like that. You should ask Mallory to be like that.”

“No thanks,” Sam dismissed that suggestion, “Mallory has only just stopped being mad at me over that dinner fiasco with Tom.”

“Tom?” Josh echoed as he smirked at his co-worker. “Don't let Toby hear you use his forename, he'll probably try and have an exorcism performed on you.”

“Ha, ha,” Sam sneered as his expression curdled slightly before he turned his gaze ahead, mindful of the people they were bypassing. “Mallory gets annoyed if I call him Congressman Landis, she says it's rude and impersonal.” Sam pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I haven't even seen him since the dinner but Mallory is over the moon with him, it's all I have been hearing Josh and it does make me a little mad,” he admitted even as he looked ahead and tried to feign calm, “only because it's been so repetitive lately, Tom this and Tom that, because he sacrificed a meeting to go to Chicago for Cady.” Sam's unimpressed expression remained as they veered towards Mrs. Landingham's domain. “You would think he was a saint, which is a pedestal too lofty for any of us.”

Josh snorted at this. “You sound jealous Sam. Maybe you should tell Mallory it wasn't just a boring office meeting he sacrificed, it was one he's spent months trying to arrange to persuade some Republican senators to raise a vote for tax reductions for guardians,” Josh continued in a rant as he let some anger slip into his voice, “and tell her that he was stupid cancelling that for her siren sister and even stupider for doing it at the last minute and that his own party is quite mad with him and unlikely to take him, a liberal Republican, seriously again,” Josh snapped.

Seeing Sam's slightly astonished look, Josh fixed a sardonic smile on his face. “You know, luring Tom from Republican business to Chicago is probably the most Democratic thing Cadence has done,” Josh mocked in an attempt to swap his rage for humour.

Josh didn't know why Tom's personal decisions irked him so much, they shouldn't and he knew it, if anything he should have been happy about it all just as Toby was or indifferent like C.J who had smiled patiently and shrugged over the news before stating nicely that 'sweet as Tom was, he wasn't a big fish in the Republican pond and was too liberal to make many waves so why should his business matter?'

Tom had effectively dealt a blow to himself and to his party with his choice to skip a meeting to push for a vote on a tax change unpopular with the Democrats. Josh knew how hard Tom must have worked just to get the meeting put in place so the idea that he had thrown it all away for a woman he hardly knew was a little difficult for Josh to sympathise with. He wondered if that was the core of his annoyance and interest in the matter, if it was more to do with the fact that Cadence had indirectly caused it. Perhaps, Josh told himself, he was simply angry that Tom thought Cadence was worth the sacrifice.

Sam sighed and halted. He gave Josh a serious stare as his colleague halted too and looked at him questioningly. “Josh, maybe I shouldn't say this, Mallory told me and it's probably not meant to be common knowledge but Cady went to Chicago to see where Robbie Donovan died. She rang Tom to let him know she was flying there and he went so she wouldn't be alone. Cady didn't ask him to go, he chose to.”

Josh tried to conceal his surprise even as his eyebrows lifted slightly. “Idiot,” he scorned, “he hasn't even been with her long.” He gestured down to the ground with one hand. “See Sam, she just breeds trouble, without even meaning it.”

Sam looked a little startled by Josh's scorn. “Well alright, that wasn't exactly the reaction I anticipated. Hmm I thought you liked the guy Josh.” He smiled before turning ahead. “Alright, so you're not getting him or Cady a Christmas present then,” Sam attempted to dismiss the manner swiftly. “Let's keep going, the president's waiting.”

Sam started walking briskly again.

Josh stared after him numbly as he wondered again why he even cared at all that Tom was effectively screwing up his career for romance. He shook his head and started walking, matching Sam's pace with ease.

“Does Cadence know?” Josh pried. “What Tom left to go to Chicago?”

Sam shrugged, unhappy at Josh pushing the issue. “I'm not sure, Mallory heard it from the president. Cady just told her she phoned Tom and he heard her worry in her voice,” Sam pulled a face at this, “I'm sure they're exaggerating, I'm sure Mal is. She just finds it funny to tease me about Tom.”

Josh gave a weak smile at this. He had noticed how insightful Tom could be and figured Tom just might have heard worry in Cadence's voice when she had phoned him.

They reached Mrs. Landingham and gave her their polite, afternoon greetings. It didn't earn either of them a cookie, which was disappointing as she had bought some rather tempting looking Christmas cookies for her jar.

Mrs. Landingham informed the president of their arrival, never breaking her calm facade even as shouts and curses for the 'infernal intercom' were her response. With a small smile, she waved the men into the Oval Office.

Inside the pair found the president seated at his desk signing cards whilst Charlie stood beside him, poised with his hands behind his back as he gave corrections and suggestions.

“I hope my card has a nice cash surprise in it,” Josh jested as he stepped up to the desk.

“Josh that would be very unethical,” Jed retorted calmly as he kept his head bowed to the cards, “and if I did it for you I'd have to do it for all my staff and this job just does not pay that well.”

“Alright sir,” Josh answered with a smile, “I was just kidding.”

Jed glanced up with a grin. “I know, so was I, I'd only do it for my favourites. I was sparing your feelings,” he said in a deadpan manner.

“Did you go with the religious decorated ones or the more...fantastical ones sir?” Sam pried.

Sam felt a pleasant warmth in the office, a nice comparison to the chill of the corridors they have paced through to get here. Winter was upon them and promising to be its usual icy, unforgiving self. Although the damp days had faded for the moment, the replacement was a bitter nip in the air that drew out one's breath without warning in trails of mist leaving an unpleasant frosty chill down the throat in its place.

“Fantastical?” Josh repeated as he glanced at Sam out of the corner of his eye questioningly.

“You know, Santa, elves, flying reindeer,” Sam retorted with a wave of his hands, “fantastical.”

“Magical,” Charlie suggested as he smiled at the pair, “and the president went for a mixture, we were supplied this year's cards by a company that has local artists right here in D.C designing them, with proceeds going to veterans.”

“Oh Toby will like that,” Josh enthused, “did he suggest them?”

“No, Zoey did via Cady,” Charlie retorted, “Cady showed her them in a shop, something about llamas and flamingos. We went for a more traditional set by the artist.” He gave a slightly confused, small shrug with his shoulders before turning his stare back to the desk. “Sir, Sallingo is spelled with two ls and there is no h at the end of Aurora.”

Jed sighed mournfully. “I just wanted to send Senator Donner a Happy Holidays one but if you write to one Republican in the House you have to write to them all,” he complained. “And Leo says if I send one addressed to 'The Both of You' to Cadence and Tom then he's quitting and much as I would welcome the peace could you imagine the chaos we'd face in the New Year without him?” Jed glanced up at Sam and Josh and smiled. “So I'm letting Abbey write that card.”

“Isn't it a bit soon sir?” Josh blurted out. “They haven't been dating long.”

“You sound like Leo, Josh, and I was joking,” Jed responded dryly. “Cady is getting whatever card Abbey picks and writes from all of us, I have no say in the matter.”

Josh wondered where Leo was when Jed mentioned him. He had been surprised not to find him waiting here and was unaware of any meetings he might be at. Given Leo's role as the White House Chief of Staff, Josh hardly expected him to be twiddling his thumbs but it was odd he wasn't here when they had come to discuss legislation.

“No llamas or flamingos then?” Sam queried. He looked confused at the wilting stares Charlie and Josh fixed upon him. “What? They sounded nice!”

“Anyway gentlemen, you didn't come here to discuss cards, although the history on them is fascinating,” Jed remarked with a broad smile. “Did you know the first recorded Christmas card was sent to King James the First of England?” he quipped as he looked at them with a bright spark in his dark azure eyes. “'A greeting on the birthday of the Sacred King', it said,” Jed remarked in a clear, authoritative voice that Josh had privately dubbed his 'professor voice'. “That was in 1611 but it was over two hundred years before they became commercial. Again, we can thank England, for it was Sir Henry Cole who commissioned them in 1843-”

“Sir,” Josh interrupted with a flash of an apologetic smile, “that's fascinating, really but we were hoping to talk about foreign policy.”

The joy dimmed from Jed's eyes and he turned his attention back to the cards.

“Leo is unsure on that,” Jed remarked quietly, almost in a grumble, “our friends in the House are pushing to overturn the lowering of taxes on Colombian goods, an act Chief Deputy Majority Whip Haffley has been very vocal about, and that is the last time I'm going to say that mouthful of a title of his,” Jed murmured moodily as he continued to sign cards.

Charlie stiffened slightly as his dark eyes rolled upwards momentarily as he prepared for the rant that he knew was coming at the mention of Congressman Haffley's name.

“He wants to know why we'd offer what appears to be an apology to Colombia if we, the government, did nothing wrong,” Jed sneered sardonically. “Certainly, our Republican friends surely cannot want a war with Colombia but then again,” he continued with false cheer, “perhaps if it's one they can blame me for it'll help boost their popularity.”

“Ah Haffley,” Josh mused merrily, “a fascist even for Republicans. Well if you extend the lowering of taxes for exporting goods to the USA to the rest of South America instead of just Colombia it would be less personal but if we are losing out on the taxes, then the cost of the goods must go up and we would have the American people making up the money we've lost in trade and then we may as well tell them to vote Republican next time,” he added with a slight smirk.

“Which is why we'd rather give than take,” Sam said brightly, “and consider financial aid to putting an end to child soldiers in Kundu. It's a foreign aid the American people will support and it'll detract from the tax reduction we've offered Colombia.”

Jed glanced up from his cards. “I certainly would like for every child in the world to have a choice in their future but we will have Republican opposition to it, they'll ask where the money is coming from and how we will make up for the loss in taxes from Colombia.” He shook his head. “Haffley is pushing for a vote on the matter of reduced taxes for American people who become guardians to those outside their immediate household. He has, rather slyly, pointed out that if we cancelled the tax reduction on Colombian imports, there might not be much of a difference. The matter of war doesn't seem to concern him but it won't until we openly admit it's a possibility, which we won't because then we'd have to discuss the C.I.A and dead soldiers and that matter is never getting raised for discussion again,” Jed said sternly.

“Sir?” Sam glanced at Josh and found he appeared just as confused as Sam.

Jed continued to stare down at the cards as he answered. “People who take in extra members to their households,” his voice was calm as he talked. “It's a familiar sounding request isn't it?” he queried sardonically.

Josh frowned and folded his arms. “It's To-Congressman Landis'.”

Josh felt a sudden sense of disappointment weighing on him. He didn't think the liberal Tom would have much association with the fascist Haffley but it was difficult to see how Haffley was now pushing Tom's request if there wasn't a connection between the pair.

Jed glanced up to Josh with a tranquil stare before turning his attention to Charlie. “Charlie how is Senator Hollington spelling his name?”

“She and it's Hollywell sir,” Charlie responded brightly.

“Are you writing to the entire party?” Sam queried.

“Blame Eisenhower,” Jed grumbled, “he started the official White House Christmas card business.”

“Sir, what about this financial aid?” Josh pressed for an explanation. “You're not considering Haffley's ultimatum are you?

Jed waved the pen in his hand about with a casual dismissive gesture. “He's trying to call our bluff, the American people think Colombia was just a misunderstanding revolving around a graduate student taking a gap year with terrorists masquerading as villagers along with a more recent mixup with undercover C.I.A agents in Colombia and they saw us offering a tax reduction on imported goods to Colombia as a means of soothing such misunderstandings,” he sounded out 'misunderstandings' bitingly.

Jed looked up to Sam and Josh pointedly and raised his eyebrows slightly. “Haffley evidently senses something amiss, most of the House does, Director Wolfe just brought too much damn attention to it all when he tried to blackmail us and the suicide of that Agent Sparks stirred a little of it up despite us keeping a lid on it. Haffley is obviously hoping if he focuses on it enough either he'll expose something or have us give in to his demands to make this attention go away.”

Jed frowned. “Now you know why Leo's not here,” he stated bluntly, “he's due to meet with Cady and Congressman Landis for some sort of meet and greet and Leo doesn't want linked to this when we reject Haffley, he can't have Cady mad at him yet again but it's fine for her to be angry with me. Also, the less Leo knows about this the better, he's ready to call out Landis for using Haffley to blackmail us for his own agenda even though I've cautioned him, we have no evidence that's what Landis has intended.”

Sam felt a mixture of surprise and slight woe. He noticed how Jed didn't bother saying 'Tom' and had dropped the congressman's title quickly. Despite his words, Sam knew Jed had already concluded that Tom was playing dirty.

Jed sighed. “I honestly thought we'd make it to Christmas without another fallout. You know,” he added bitterly, “it's not groundbreaking, Landis' proposal, it's been noted that there are people in this country who have opened their doors to members not of their immediate family but do not receive any extra aid for doing so, which means they could be putting themselves in a tight financial spot and one could argue that maybe if there was a better incentive for them, more doors would be opened. I wouldn't accept a direct tax reduction for them, we need to put more thought into it than that but I would have debated the matter and considered alternatives if he had been the one to raise it. Congressman Haffley presents it as a Republican policy to be exchanged for a Democratic one, drop the benefit of less taxes for the foreign Colombians and have a benefit of less taxes for our own people who graciously open their doors to others.”

Jed looked up to Sam and Josh with another frown. “Makes us sound like the bad guys, doesn't it?” he grumbled. He sighed again. “Worse, they hold the House and the Senate so when I reject it, which I will because I'm not happy with how Haffley presented it, the legislation is likely to get passed anyway.”

Josh's frown deepened. The president was right, if he agreed to the policy it sounded like he was bowing to Republican demands and he was putting their already volatile relationship with Colombia at risk but rejecting it made it appear as if they prioritised Colombian interests over the American people's. Josh felt a fresh anger Tom, both for being so stupid as to abandon raising the matter to run after Cadence and for turning to a sneaky friend like Jeff Haffley to fix his mistake.

“Sir, firstly, there is a financial incentive for fostering,” Josh pointed out, “which has been exploited in some cases were numerous children find themselves in one household of neglect because they are viewed only by the money the government supplies their guardian.” Josh shook his head. “Sir, I know the House holds the power but let's not accept that we're going to lose by default. We should get Leo on board with this and come up with a strategy.” 

“He's not in the room for a reason,” Jed conceded.

Sam looked thoughtful about it. “Well we could outmanoeuvre them,” he murmured, “let's not do a tax reduction but an alternative boon, an improvement to the financial support already offered for fostering.

“It's not about that,” Josh said bluntly. “I read Landis' proposal,” he confessed, “Toby and I both did, back when we thought he was up to something in Chicago,” he added sheepishly. He rubbed at his dark curls before pressing a hand against his brow momentarily. He could feel a headache budding and tried to suppress it. “He wants to focus on blood relations, uncles and aunts that become guardians to their orphaned nieces and nephews, grand-parents who take on grandchildren because of bereavement. He feels these people fall through the cracks, that they do it out of duty and don't even know if they're entitled to help.”

“We need a figure and we need to know where it's coming from,” Sam advised.

“Right,” Jed retorted carefully, “Haffley is going to raise this issue, we're going to reject the tax proposal but counter it with a financial incentive instead. Well, we'd better make it good if we want him to let go of Colombia. I wish everyone would let go of that mess,” he added darkly.

Josh pressed his fingertips into his brow. “Landis pulls a stunt like this and we effectively end up helping him get what he wants,” he grumbled.

“It's a smart move,” Jed acknowledged. He gave Josh a calming stare. “Don't take it personally Josh,” he advised.

Josh lowered his hand. “Politics is always personal sir,” he answered sternly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, Jeff Haffley is a Season 5 character, I think we can safely assume I've gone rogue. I thought this fic would be finished about ten chapters ago so thank you to all my loyal readers for still being entertained by it. It's definitely my escapism for current times.  
I find politics fascinating and political dramas some of the best but my goodness, even though I studied history and politics all the jargon and laws melts my head. Hopefully, there is some form of accuracy here and, more importantly, entertainment.  
I really love the Republicans that came into the later show, yes Jeff is a prick but my goodness he's good at it and so wonderfully portrayed by Steven Culp. I really love Jeff as a character, I think he brought certain layers to the role.


	41. Family Politics

Out of all the situations he had been in, in Washington D.C. including serving as a closet drunk and pill popper under a president he loathed and putting a president he loved at risk when his vices were exposed, Leo McGarry decided promptly that this situation still might rank in the top five of the worst.

Patriarch of the very much now broken McGarry family, Leo still held hopes for some form of reconciliation over the holidays. It was a cliché and his hopes for it grew fainter and fainter as Christmas drew nearer but he clung to the possibility of celebrating with his daughters if not his estranged wife and ending the year on a peaceful note with his youngest. The fact that said youngest was dating a Republican who had gotten his ally to pull a dirty stunt to help him get a desired tax reduction approved was why Leo was considering this might be his fourth or even third worst situation in D.C.

Leo sat a table trying not to be grim faced as he waited for his main course. The festive outing had been suggested by Tom, an offer of dinner to make up for the one Leo hadn't been invited to, and a chance for Leo to get to know his daughter's boyfriend on the promise that it would be on neutral territory. Certainly the restaurant of choice wasn't Switzerland but it wasn't a dining room of the White House or canteen of the Republican Congress either.

Leo couldn't even recall the name of the restaurant he was seated in, he had dined in so many stately places now it was hard to bat an eye at this one. Sure it was fancy, decked out for Christmas with a subtle theme of gold and white so as to invoke class and not the cliché of colourful baubles and lights but it was nothing spectacular. Its main appeal was a large window paned view of its courtyard, a beauty of fountains budding in a rectangular pool of water, highlighted with white lights. It didn't impress Leo, he thought it was almost a mockery given it was too cold to actually sit outside and enjoy it.

Their table was in a raised section that was passable where privacy was concerned. There were only a select number of identical round tables up here with generous spacing between them, a view of the garden to one side and a glimpse of the main body of the restaurant on the opposing side. The differences between the upper and lower sectors were subtle- white beeswax candles bobbing in water added a distracting touch to the fancier tables which had linen cloths patterned with gold pine tree silhouettes on their trim, a little brighter than the plain off-white cloths for the tables below.

Leo glanced to the right where his youngest sat. Cadence McGarry, still a child in her father's eyes, more so now that she was sitting aligned with her much older boyfriend. Leo knew he had to try and make an effort, Landis wasn't the worst but his manoeuvre with Haffley was sneaky even if it was just politics. At least Leo hoped it was just politics, it was hard to shake the fear that Haffley was sniffing around Colombia for a reason, that Tom had divulged something to him, some secret Cadence had dared to entrust him with. Leo thought of all the dark secrets that his own team didn't know about Colombia, the lies, the deaths and the cover-up Cadence had been forced to take part in. She hardly knew Tom and yet Leo had found her venting to him in the lobby before they had even started dating, who knew what she had told him since?

Tom had suggested the dinner the day before Haffley had made his move. Leo wondered if he was regretting the peace offering now.

Leo caught Cadence's probing, slightly irate stare. She had been through grief and betrayal with Agent Sparks, Leo didn't want another man deceiving her but he knew he couldn't make accusations to Tom without being sure. Tom had gone to Chicago for her and he had, as he had vowed to Leo, brought her home safely from the city. Yet it gnawed at Leo because he couldn't let Cadence continue to date Tom on the chance that he was using her secrets for political gain.

Tom was watching Leo with a patient stare as they waited for their food. There had been no starter, Cadence had vetoed it, wary of another never ending dinner, and Tom hadn't argued. Leo hadn't protested either but Tom got the impression it was because Leo wanted to get the evening over and done with as quickly as possible. Conversation between them had been non-existent save for the expected greetings between them. Tom knew Leo was ready to snap and he had a fair idea what about, knowing he wasn't avoiding it Tom had resided himself to bracing for it calmly.

Leo ignored Cadence's stare as his gaze darted over to the congressman. He saw the unflinching calm on Tom's fair face and a moment of anger overcame him. How could the man sit and face him down so brazenly after what he'd done?

“So you know Jeff Haffley,” Leo said it as an accusation. “Does he owe you a favour on this one or will you owe him?”

Tom clasped his hands on the table momentarily. “Jeff and I are friends,” he answered brightly with a small, harmless smile.

“What's this about dad?” Cadence demanded as her angry gaze darted between the men. She recognised the name Haffley only vaguely and knew it belonged to a Republican congressman but she didn't know of his notoriety and she couldn't understand why her father's tone when asking about him was hostile.

Leo regretted the question. He knew it wasn't the place or the time. If he was being really honest with himself he knew it wasn't his place to ask about it. He glanced about the restaurant momentarily. It was busy as expected, fully booked and thriving with activity. It meant there were numerous witnesses but none were close enough thanks to their superior seats and busyness also meant there was a lot of conflicting background noise of music and chatter to block out their conversation. He thought about letting the matter go but then he thought about Cadence getting caught up in another smear campaign about Colombia and he saw red again.

Leo gestured out to Tom with one hand as he looked directly at his daughter.

“Reduced taxes for the American people who become guardians to their relations,” he stated bluntly. “A noble policy Landis here was meant to raise amongst the Republican senators only he skipped out on that meeting. I thought it was a nice sacrifice he'd made to see you in Chicago, Cady, but I was wrong, Landis skipped the meeting and got his fascist friend Haffley to push it instead.”

Tom's mouth slid down to a frown as his pale blue stare filled with anger.

“That's not how it happened,” he remarked heatedly.

There was a hesitation amongst the trio as their food arrived. A waiter appeared with a silver trolley laden with goods. The three dishes were served out to them along with their sides and an offer of drinks. Leo shook his head when he was asked if he wanted something other than water whilst Tom declined another beer. Cadence held up her wine glass for a top-up while looking from one man to another with an unwavering stern stare.

The young woman waited until the waiter had retreated out of hearing and as Leo fumbled with his napkin and Tom reached for his cutlery she snapped at them, “what's going on? What are you two talking about?”

Tom stared across the table to Leo with a measure of scorn in his pale blue eyes. He didn't appreciate being called 'Landis', Mr. Landis he would've accepted, informal as it was but the lack of a title was rudeness and he knew Leo meant to insult him.

“You started this conversation, do you want to continue it?” Tom queried in a biting tone.

Leo might have dropped the matter until Tom spoke in a manner Leo knew was full of smug scorn implying that Leo was somehow in the wrong over this issue. His own blue stare matched Tom's ire before he turned it upon Cadence, hoping she would understand that he wanted only to protect her.

“Cady,” Leo addressed his daughter in a quiet, brisk voice as he gestured outwards to Tom, “this congressman wanted to present a matter before his party, a legislation that would get taxes reduced for people who become guardians to their relations. Whether his party were ever going to go for it on his word or not, I don't know,” Leo muttered with a wave of his hand, “and we will never know because he abandoned a meeting with the Republican senators to go to Chicago. Now, I was willing to believe that was for you,” Leo added defensively as he saw the anger and confusion flitting across his daughter's face as she tensed in shoulders and her mouth fixed into a thin line as she tried to hold back her emotions, “I really was Cady but I was wrong. Landis here had his friend Chief Deputy Majority Whip Haffley raise the matter, a fascist with one hell of a bite to match his bark,” Leo snapped as he turned a glower back to Tom and pointed at him accusingly.

Tom remained still, demonstrating a brittle calm as a quiet anger burned into his blue irises. He flinched only when he felt a damp trickle on his philtrum and realised that a nosebleed had begun. His mouth creased down into an immediate frown as he grasped for the festive red napkin resting beside his cooling dinner.

“You cancelled a meeting with senators to come to Chicago?” Cadence queried quietly as she turned to face Tom with puzzlement. “A meeting about a tax you wanted changed? Why would you do that Tom?”

“Because he knew he'd get it passed with Haffley!” Leo snarled out before he could help himself. “I wouldn't be surprised if he knew it was going to fail if he raised it himself,” he grumbled, “which means running to Chicago probably seemed like divine intervention. He looked selfless when in reality he wanted the excuse.”

Tom held Leo's gaze as he dabbed at his nostrils, his bitter frown concealed by his napkin.

“You are determined to think the worst of me irregardless of what I say or do,” Tom commented calmly as he lowered the napkin momentarily. He sighed. “I'm a liberal so you're probably right, I may not have gotten my suggestion raised before the House for debate but believe me I had and still have every intentions of trying. I'm not doing a good job for my people if I don't try.”

“Tom, why didn't you go to the meeting?” Cadence demanded as she gave him a wounded stare. She was fidgeting with her hands, she clasped them on the table before shifting them onto her lap. She wanted to be angry with Tom but the sight of streaks of crimson soaking his upper lip kept her rage at bay.

“I didn't ask you to come to Chicago, I told you not to,” she said firmly.

Tom mustered a flicker of a faint smile for her before he dabbed at his nostrils again.

“Cady,” he addressed her gently, “you sounded upset and I was worried. When I met you, you hid under a desk because a door banged too loudly and you talked about Colombia in this odd, cryptic manner. I know something bad happened to you, I just don't know what but I've gathered enough to notice you are not in a good place and there was no way in hell I was letting you go to Chicago alone in that vulnerable state.”

Leo let out a snort. “Colombia,” he sounded out the name hatefully wondering if he would ever shake its shadow from his door. “Are you sure you don't know about it?” he demanded as he gave Tom another angry stare. “Your friend is certainly making enough noise about it.”

Tom lowered the napkin and stretched his hands out and around his plate in exasperation. “What are you talking about?” he quipped in frustration. “I haven't mentioned Colombia to him, I've nothing to mention and I haven't told a single soul why I went to Chicago. Why are you so angry? If I was a Democrat you'd probably admire the power play,” he accused as he shot Leo another irritated stare.

Leo took up his cutlery in a tight grasp, suddenly feeling a need to hold something to stave off the urge to thump the table or throw a punch at the arrogant Republican. He knew part of his anger stemmed from the fact that he was shut out of this business in the White House. He had requested distance because he was due to attend this dinner but then he had reminded himself he was the Chief of Staff and he couldn't put his personal life ahead, he hadn't done it for Jenny, he couldn't do it for Cadence and he hated Landis for putting him in this position so soon after his last fallout with Cadence.

“Not when it involves dirty tricks that put my daughter at risk!” Leo snapped.

Cadence flinched at Leo's raised voice as he started to lose his temper. She didn't know what to say, too confused to figure out how to calm the situation and unsure if she even wanted to, at least not until she'd gotten the truth of the matter.

“What?” Tom cocked his head slightly as he gave Leo an incredulous expression. “I still don't know what you're talking about,” he complained, weary of the conversation now.

Tom clutched the napkin to his nostrils with one hand, all he could smell was blood now despite the steam full of scents wafting up from his spoiled dinner.

“Haffley wants us to cancel our tax reduction on Colombian imports and pass it to these guardians of yours instead,” Leo replied with a slight sneer, certain that Tom was bluffing, “but you knew that Landis, it's all part of your plan. You learned enough about Colombia from Cady and now you're getting Haffley to use it in some sneaky move to get us to roll over and pass your tax bill for you.”

Tom shook his head. “Mr McGarry this is not the place for this conversation,” he said quietly. “Jeff doesn't know anything about Colombia from me.”

“Well he is acting like he does,” Leo snapped. His tone rose an octave again hearing Tom call Haffley 'Jeff', it was a nickname and therefore a sign of friendship and familiarity. It was one thing to be polite to the extremists in your party because they were colleagues after all and quite another to be friends with them.

Tom turned his face to the right, facing out to the diners on the lower floor who were enjoying their food and ignorant to the small, disgruntled party who didn't seem hungry. The congressman gave a smile laced with bitterness as he envied the others their oblivious happiness.

Cadence was numb as she stared at the table, unwilling to look at either man. She hadn't been expecting a joyous affair tonight, just some awkward pleasantries but she hadn't anticipated it would turn into a hostile mess.

Tom muttered a curse when he felt a droplet of blood escape to spatter onto his grey trousers. He dabbed at his nose in rapid frustration before turning his attention back to Leo.

“Did it ever occur to you that Jeff is suspicious about Colombia because you gave them a tax reduction?” Tom queried calmly. “Oh sure, you can say it was to smooth over whatever the C.I.A did or didn't do except Director Wolfe is still in charge and you sent the Vice President to do the smoothing over. Maybe,” he said as he reached forward to a gold, pine tree shaped salt shaker and rocked it back with his fingertip, “you can say it was a recognition of your renewed relations and an apology for the problems you'd had. The C.I.A giving weapons to drug dealers and Cady unknowingly mixed up with terrorists, something you made her go and apologise for. The problem is Mr McGarry,” Tom commented as he released the salt shaker and turned an accusing stare up to Leo, “Colombia didn't give you anything. Not one token gesture by way of thanks or indeed apology, you know, an apology for an American citizen visiting their country to provide charity to some needy villagers and instead getting caught up by terrorists. They acknowledged that she couldn't have known what they were but they didn't apologise and they should have.” Tom pointed at Leo this time. “They should have Mr. McGarry if that's how it all really happened.”

Cadence stood up from the table suddenly. She glanced from one man to the other as she addressed them both calmly. Whilst her voice never trembled the quiver in her clenched hands betrayed her nerves. In the right one she clutched at a napkin.

“I'm not going to be a pawn anymore,” she said in a voice quiet but stern, “and I'm sorry that my mess has created this mess dad.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I'm sorry too that you felt you had to miss your meeting for me Tom,” she added in a cool calm. “I can't do it anymore, I'm sick of the secrets and the lies, I really am.”

“Cady I never told Jeff to challenge the Colombia tax reduction,” Tom protested.

Cadence held up a hand to the congressman, cutting him off. “It's okay, I just, I was stupid to think I could have a dinner with two politicians and not discuss politics, that was my error. ”

Cadence lowered her hand. “I don't know what happens next but I can't deal with this dinner.”

Cadence turned and walked up away from the table as Leo sprang up to follow after her. She halted momentarily to turn an icy gaze upon her father.

Tom remained at the table. He tugged his wallet out of his jacket pocket, threw down a handful notes and then tugged out a pen to scribble onto a napkin hastily. As he hunted for a clean napkin he noticed the crumpled one Cadence had abandoned, half-shaped into what he thought might be a mouse. He realised she must have been fiddling with it while her hands were in her lap and frowned as another realisation came to him. Cadence's origami wasn't a cute quirk but a distraction from her nerves, she did it only when she was uneasy not as a happy hobby.

“Dad don't follow me,” Cadence addressed Leo sternly in a low voice. She was conscious of their audience although no one seemed to notice them. She knew all too many of them found her face familiar though most of them couldn't quite place it, and even more of them recognised the Chief of Staff in the White House. Sure they were engrossed in their own affairs but given Leo's prestige position it was hard to believe some of them weren't trying to subtly pay attention to him.

The tension in Cadence's brow relaxed as she tried to summon up some calm. “Think of your job, think of your boss,” she cautioned her father quietly. “I'd love to be a martyr and offer to confess my sins but it will only make things worse not better so you and Tom have to agree how it's silenced and I would rather not know how that is,” she added miserably as she fiddled with the gold coloured buttons on her silk shirt. “I just wanted someone that wasn't part of this shady game.” She let a sardonic chuckle slip out before she could help it. “John did warn me a politician wouldn't be honest.”

Leo's silvery-grey eyebrows rose a fraction as Cadence called the VP but his forename. It took him a couple of seconds to actually realise who 'John' was.

Leo reached out a hand to his daughter's arm but she pulled back. “Cady I'm sorry,” he said sincerely, “I am but I couldn't let you continue to date this guy if there was a chance he was using secrets about you to effectively blackmail us into passing Republican legislation.”

“Dad, Tom and I haven't spoken much about Colombia, there's nothing I told him that...could be used,” she trailed off quietly. “So he's probably telling the truth about Haffley.” She shrugged. “The C.I.A do something but it's the Vice President who apologises,” she said softly, “and then me, the civilian, sorry for something I didn't know I was doing, shit,” she cursed before she could help herself and shook her head, “something I didn't even do,” she corrected stubbornly, “and then the tax reductions.”

Leo frowned as he thought about Tom's accusation that Cadence was owed an apology. He realised grudgingly that the congressman was right and the irony was Tom didn't even know why he was right. He glanced about his surroundings cautiously, this definitely wasn't the place or the time.

Leo just nodded. “I'll talk to Landis,” he said grudgingly.

“Good and if you can't call him Tom, call him Congressman Landis, he calls you Mr McGarry,” Cadence scorned her father.

She turned away without a farewell, navigating down the steps and through the tables towards the entrance.

Leo bristled slightly before turning back to the table. He frowned as he saw it was vacant. Tom had fled while Leo was talking to Cadence. Figuring the Republican had probably skipped out on the bill as well, Leo paced back to the table, watching out of the corner of his eye for a waiter to summon.

He found a small stack of bills in the centre of the table with a scrawled on napkin beside them. The napkin read 'I'll get Colombia dropped because she matters'.

Leo tensed again as he reached a hand up to the wrinkles in his brow. He wondered if there was a jibe with the message, an implication that Cadence had not or did not matter to Leo. It made him loathe the Republican again but also himself. If he had been putting Cadence first he wouldn't have mentioned Colombia tonight but he hadn't been, he had been thinking of the humiliation of the President of the United States being threatened by Republicans.

Cadence said she'd discussed little about Colombia with Tom so he could not know that second time round on her apology visit she had disappeared- taken and beaten had been John's opinion but Cadence wasn't willing to admit to that. Leo thought about her phone call from Chicago and how she had sobbed that Leo was stronger than her and wouldn't have gotten abducted again. Again. That word had sent a jarring pang through him but when she had returned to D.C she had clammed up all over again. Leo knew John had been right, Cadence had been kidnapped in Colombia, taken, beaten and marked by persons unknown. It had been a warning or a message but by whom Leo wasn't sure. He didn't even really care, his concern was its effects on Cadence. Yet God help him wasn't he glad she had been quiet about it? That she hadn't screamed about it in Colombia or made a scene? That there wasn't a fresh scandal for Jed to be humiliated by. 

“Sir, can I help?”

Leo looked over at the voice and gave the curious waiter a faint smile. “Just the cheque please,” he requested calmly. Seeing the waiter's gaze shift to the uneaten plates, he added hastily, “business came up. In fact, I'm in a hurry, I'm needed back at work.”

The waiter nodded. He recognised who Leo McGarry was and believed the business must be serious. “I'll get it right away.” He scurried off.

As Cadence exited out of the restaurant she was surprised to see Tom standing on the sidewalk, waiting patiently in his long, black, woollen coat.

“You remembered your coat,” he praised as he gave a small half-grin.

Cadence nodded as she finished buttoning up her navy, woollen coat. The Chessie pin still glinted on the lapel, a reminder to her to grab her coat.

“Cady, before you tell me you're tired and don't want to talk, I just need to say a few things first,” Tom said firmly. “One, I didn't use Chicago as an excuse to run from my meeting, I knew you needed me and I didn't tell anyone why I missed the meeting. Two, I don't regret going to Chicago, you're a strong person and I think you'd have gotten by without me but I think I helped and,” he paused and gave her a fond smile as his almost clear blue eyes twinkled with joy, “I would be a complete idiot to ever say I regretted our time in the hotel.”

Tom raised his hands to his hips as he resisted the urge to rub at his nose. The bleeding had stopped but the dried remnants of bloody flakes were now irritating his nostrils.

“Three, I did ask Jeff to raise my tax request but I only thought to after Chicago not before and he asked about it first, he almost tore my head off for missing the meeting. He was doing me a favour but only because it benefited him as well, he's an extremist happy to hit a blow on the Democrats, you can consider it sneaky of me if you want but I was just using the resources in my party. If I'd been a Democrat doing the same your father would be praising me instead of getting pissed. Fourth, I swear I have never spoken about Colombia with Jeff, I haven't even spoken to him about you yet. Fifth, I wanted to have a nice dinner with your father, that I swear as well, so I'm going to phone Jeff and get this whole matter of Colombia dropped but not the request,” he added sternly. “Jeff's got the House poised to pass it, so your father and the president can just blame me for it if it's easier so long as your father agrees to try this again. Cady, my meeting with Josh when we met, he and the Democrats effectively screwed me with my pants on, that's how these things go, this is just business and I would never and will never bring anything personal into it.”

Tom saw Cadence ready to protest and held up a gloved hand to silence her. “Finally,” he concluded, “I really like you and I'm still hungry and I know you are so I want you to come back to my house and we can get takeaway.”

Tom gave a grin as he lowered his hand and waited for Cadence to respond.

Cadence folded her arms as she contemplated her response. “Well Tom, I still wish you hadn't given up your meeting for me but I don't regret our time in the hotel either and I am glad you were there when we went to where Robbie died because I did need someone there, you're right.”

She unfolded her arms and confessed, “I am still hungry but I'd feel bad if we didn't say a better goodbye to dad especially since I told him to go back and talk to you. Does he know you're out here?”

“Well he knows I've left, I paid my share,” Tom retorted. He glanced over to restaurant entry and saw Leo through the glass doors receiving his coat. “Here he comes,” he murmured, unable to keep his dismay from his voice.

After receiving his coat, Leo exited out, frowning as he spied Tom again before he pulled on his coat and caught his daughter's pleading stare.

“Oh alright,” Leo grumbled, “your mother says she's having Mallory and Sam for Christmas and I don't want to spend it alone because you're mad at me. So, what should I say?” He turned a stubborn stare on Tom. “I'm not sorry, I had grounds to suspect you were exploiting my daughter for a politician gain, better I raised it now than let things get worse.”

“Geez dad,” Cadence scorned, “even Toby's apology was better and he mentioned the word doom.”

Tom was giving his classic lopsided grin, his anger dissipated from his pale blue stare. “Sir, that is work, this is personal. We need to keep these things separate if we're going to get along and I am keeping them separate and I will continue to do so,” Tom vowed.

Leo's expression softened as he thought again of Jenny. He knew she wasn't coming back to him, he had asked for four years then begged even for a few months reconsideration but she couldn't grant him it, he'd spent most of their marriage in politics and she was exhausted with it now.

“It's not that easy La...Tom,” he corrected hastily. “I wish it was, I truly do but if you aren't giving a hundred percent to the job then you're failing the people.”

Tom's smile widened. “That's true of every job but you've got to draw a line between your job and your life. The American people understand we're human, granted there's some doubt over us Republicans but I can assure you I was born in a hospital like anyone else and not hatched from some demon's egg,” he jested.

Leo looked at him oddly whilst Cadence gave a small smile. “You're odd for a congressman,” Leo murmured.

“It's been said,” Tom retorted.

Tom offered out a gloved hand to Leo. “I would really love to try this again sir, only not as congressman and Chief of Staff, as Cadence's boyfriend and father.”

Leo grimaced at the word 'boyfriend' but feeling Cadence's compelling stare upon him he accepted the hand in his own. “I'm not sure that will be better,” he admitted. “I'm of the belief that no man is good enough for either of my girls. On that, Democratic or Republican, you and Sam Seaborn are on equal territory.”

Leo smiled at the unease that crept across Tom's face. He released his hand and looked at his daughter. “Can we agree we will do Christmas Day together then?” he queried.

“We're ordering in, right?” Cadence queried dubiously.

“Of course, unless you've learned to cook and not told me?”

Cadence grinned. “Nope. My apartment or your hotel?”

“Cady, do you even have to ask?”

Cadence pouted slightly as she raised her hands to her hips. “You don't have a tree.”

“Neither do you.”

“You won't get carollers.”

“Neither will you, you'll get robbers.”

“We call them beggars dad and they ask first.”

“In your neighbourhood, I doubt that,” Leo scorned.

Cadence shook her head before relaxing her stance. “Well Tom and I are going to get takeaway since, you know, we haven't actually had dinner yet. Do you want-”

“Oh God no,” Leo interrupted. He glanced to Tom again. “Nothing personal but another day. I'll get something at the hotel.”

Tom nodded. “Well goodnight Mr McGarry.”

Leo sighed. “Call me Leo, you're making me feel old with that, which reminds me, how old are you?”

Tom's eyes widened slightly and Cadence let out a nervous giggle.

Suddenly suspicious, Leo's blue gaze flitted between the pair. “What? How old is he?” he demanded as he gestured to Tom with one hand.

“Dad that's rude,” Cadence scorned.

“No it's not.” Leo turned to face Tom. “Is it rude? It seems a perfectly reasonable question. You know my daughter is twenty-three, right?”

Tom swallowed hard before nodding. “I do sir.”

“Leo,” Leo corrected him, “call me Leo.”

“I'm thirty-eight,” Tom confessed.

“Call me sir,” Leo retorted sharply as his blue gaze widened. His mouth parted and he gaped at Cadence. “Cady, that's it,” he jerked his hands up and down sharply, “I'm going to kill Josh Lyman. I am, he did this.”

Leo paced off towards the valet. “Yeah, get me a car,” he began ordering.

“Should I...” Tom trailed off, having no idea what to say.

Cadence smiled and shook her head. “Let him go, he's going to need a few days but he'll be fine, I promise.”

“I'm not so sure. What do you think bothers him more, my political beliefs or my age?”

“Hmm definitely your political beliefs, you're older than Sam you know and he's dating Mallory who's older than me by four years.”

“That...that wasn't comforting.” Tom cocked his head to glance at Cadence. “Was that meant to be comforting?” he pried.

The pair were still facing Leo, making sure he got a car safely.

“No,” Cadence retorted cheerfully.

It didn't take long before a private car appeared for Leo. Cadence and Tom got their own soon after, heading for Tom's house. When they arrived, Cadence wasn't all that surprised to find it was a large townhouse, one of many in Capitol Hill.

“I thought you lived in an apartment,” Cadence accused as they headed up to the ornate, brick houses.

“Well I do somewhat,” Tom murmured, “I mean I've only got the ground floor.”

“That doesn't make it an apartment,” Cadence scorned as they scaled the black iron steps.

Tom keyed a pin code to unlock the main door before hunting out his keys. They bypassed brass marked letter boxes in a spotless, brightly lit lobby before he led them down to a heavy, brown door on the right. He used two different keys in separate locks before opening the door, flicking on a light and waving Cadence in.

Cadence's mouth parted in a slight 'o' at the sight of the elegant hallway before she looked again to Tom accusingly. “You're definitely a snob.”

“How?” he demanded.

Cadence pointed to the wooden stand waiting against an ovular table with legs engraved in leaves and vines. “You have a coat stand.”

“It could be a hat stand.”

“That's worse.”

Tom gazed back at her in protest. “How is that worse?” he demanded.

“Who wears hats these days? Or would own more than one hat for that matter?”

Tom grinned as he relocked the door. “Someone who's bald and doesn't like winter. Anyway, do you want to use it for your coat?”

“Well I don't want to confuse it, if it's a hat stand,” Cadence countered as she smiled warmly at him.

Tom reached out and tapped the tip of her nose lightly with one fingertip. “And everyone keeps saying I'm odd.”

Cadence reached up a hand to run through his short dark hair, which had been gelled down for the evening. “You are odd Tom.”

Tom gave her a quick kiss before stepping back to unbutton his coat. “Come on then, coats off and I'll give you the tour.”

“Can you give it in one night?” Cadence continued to tease as she tugged off her coat.

Tom dipped his head to hide his grin.

Once their coats were off, Tom took Cadence by the hand and led her through to a room on the right.

Cadence was awe-struck as Tom turned on the main light and she took it in. It was cosy, lacking windows and with only a single door in and out of it, it should've been claustrophobic but its main feature brought a welcome sense of tranquillity to it. Set in a back wall in lieu of a television was a large, aquatic tank that glowed with a peaceful turquoise light. Bobbing amongst colourful coral, pale sand and neat sprouts of emerald green seaweed were four seahorses.

Cadence stepped by the coffee table to marvel at the sea creatures with wide eyes. She resisted the urge to push up against the glass before she turned to survey the rest of the room.

There was a bookshelf set in one wall with a collection of books on varying topics both political and Virginia State oriented. Another shelf had some spaced out ornaments- an old, cracked Chessie, a snow-globe of Virginia with the slogan 'For Lovers' within, a model of a boat with 'Chesapeake Bay' painted on its side and other trinkets that related to the city and its state. There were also photographs in various frames, old and faded, taken with cameras now derelict, the colour bleached from exposure and the figures slightly blur from a lack of proper focus.

Cadence was drawn to the photographs, suddenly curious about the people in Tom's life. Her family was an open book to him thanks to circumstance but she knew little to nothing about his save for the sombre disclosure at the White House dinner that his parents and sister were deceased.

Cadence smiled as she spied Tom in one, youthful with wilder looking hair. He stood in a white t-shirt and shorts, some beautiful water scene behind him and a young woman with hair as dark as his caught in the wind, smiling and cradling a baby.

“Your sister and nephew?” Cadence made it a query as she turned to Tom and gestured to the photo.

He nodded and winced slightly as he smelled fresh blood. “This is home,” he said softly as he gestured to the room. “My spot away from the world.” He pinched his nose slightly before lowering his hand and giving Cadence a serious stare. “It can be your spot too,” he offered. “It's nice to have a spot.”

“I shouldn't take yours,” Cadence murmured as she stepped away from the photographs. She had gathered that Tom wasn't going to talk about them tonight.

“I'm happy to share.”

Tom stepped up to her and took her by the hand again. He pulled her down to the only couch in the room, a comfortable two seater with a large, woollen blanket resting on the back. The blanket was old and despite being clean carried an old musty scent that came from age and wouldn't be shaken. It had loose threads and tattered ends and the pattern of sea shells and starfish against a deep blue were a little wonky.

“My mom made it,” Tom admitted quietly as he saw Cadence looking at it. “I noticed you have one in your living room.”

Cadence smiled at him. “From home, it wasn't made by anyone I know but Mallory and I would always cuddle under it when it was really cold and we were watching t.v together.”

Tom nodded as his mouth curled up in a brief smile. “It keeps this spot cosy.”

Cadence saw the troubled woe that darted through the congressman's eyes and watched as his hand darted up to his nose again. She reached out to him, slipping her hands under his arms and drawing herself into him in a hug.

Tom sighed as he reached his hands up to complete the hug. “I told you I'd have my problems to,” he reminded her.

“It's not a problem,” Cadence argued. “It's just part of what makes you, you and we'll get to it when you're ready. This is your spot remember? No politics, no problems, just peace, have I got it right?”

Tom chuckled. “Yes.”

Cadence tilted her head up to look at him and stretched up to give him a deep kiss. “Peace and relaxation right?” she quipped as she reached with both hands for the button at his trousers.

Tom nodded eagerly. “Yep, definitely relaxation.” He pushed his hands through her fair hair and gave her another kiss. “I've got to keep having these crazy dinners with you, they always end so well for me,” he joked as he grinned at her.


	42. Festive Warfare

Josh Lyman held his head high as he walked briskly down the corridor. He had managed to turn Sam's excitable mutterings to white noise and found that if he squinted ever so slightly he could pretend he was in a different venue. He was relieved not to bypass too many familiar faces on his journey but was a little saddened to complete the travel quicker than anticipated. He figured that it was the December cold driving him to walk a little harder and faster. Sam's implication that sirens had gotten Josh jogging as if he were a criminal being chased had been dismissed with a forced chuckle and a wry shake of his head.

Josh knocked the door out of courtesy. He figured there was an aide about to alert someone to their arrival but Josh didn't want alerts. Josh wanted to return to the West Wing, cower in his office and use Donna as a shield for the remainder of what was promised to be a brief but busy day.

“Come in.” The expected voice called out to them calmly, almost eagerly which made Josh a little suspicious that maybe other visitors were expected.

Josh opened the door with ease and hastened in followed by Sam.

The office was a welcome warmth to the pair and yet it wasn't enough to abate Josh's discomfort. There were no decorations or cards, no hint of the festive holiday upon them, which fitted the purpose of the room. In here it was just another day.

The Vice President looked at the pair with surprise. He abandoned his relaxed slouch and reached hastily for a small, ribbon wrapped box on his desk. He shoved the box into a drawer hastily before a frown cut across his handsome features and his intense cerulean stare became intrigued.

“What in the name of God could you have done to Leo to warrant a visit here on Christmas Eve?” John demanded.

Josh stood in an awkward silence for a moment, looking sheepish as he eyed the VP with mild confusion in his brown gaze. He had been caught out by John's bluntness and was unsure how to respond.

Sam smiled helplessly and pushed his glasses up his brow. It was a cute, nervous quirk that worked with many people but not with John Hoynes. He was wearing a black suit hidden beneath a heavy, woollen winter coat, which had a small sprig of holly pinned to the lapel. His outfit hadn't been entirely ideal for the cold, wet trek from the White House to the Eisenhower Executive Building and he was eager for the day to be at a close so he could hurry home for a brisk but desired warm shower before he changed and met with Mallory for a romantic, Christmas Eve dinner.

John's prying stare seemed to focus on Sam like a predator singling out the weak zebra of the herd. “It must have been something truly terrific,” he goaded.

John spread his hands outwards across the desk. “The President blames me for Senator Whyte supporting some tax deduction in the House so I can't imagine you're here for anything important. Go on, what excuse did Leo scramble up to punish you pair with a visit to me?”

“Well now sir,” Sam began to babble a denial. He frowned and dropped his hand to his side as he seemed to change to his mind. “I'm collateral,” he stated bluntly as he pointed to Josh, “he did it.”

John flashed a small smile at this even as his stare turned bitter, he was glad to be right in his assumptions but angry that Leo still considered his domain a place to send the naughty staffers of the West Wing for a timeout.

“Bipartisan budget negotiations,” Josh began with a small smile, “the Republicans are willing to talk spend if it's non-defence but our party's still rattled from Colombia and wants to talk defence.”

John gave Josh a calm stare. “Well the Republicans picked Colombia up and then they dropped it,” he murmured, “because it turns out they think they can get their tax request through without a swap.” He raised his dark eyebrows slightly. “I wondered why Jeffrey Haffley would care so much about tax reductions for guardians or why they bungled his Colombia chip and took another route- Senator Whyte.”

John regarded Sam and Josh patiently, his gaze darted between them as he waited for one of them to crack. “Of course it wasn't really Haffley at all,” John concluded, “he was just the loud voice getting it attention.”

“Did Leo tell you?” Sam blurted out.

“Sam no,” Josh groaned as he clapped a palm to his forehead and sighed.

John smiled again. “Tell me what? Bipartisan budget negotiations? Is that the best he could do?” John stood up and folded his arms as he surveyed the pair with another unimpressed look.

“Sir, it's a genuine request,” Josh protested, “and not the only one.”

“I know Josh and one I didn't need a face to face meeting for,” John retorted bluntly. “So tell me because I will find out anyway, what did you two, or as Sam has implied, what did you do to get Leo mad?”

Josh winced slightly. He didn't feel he owed John a confession but he knew the man well enough to recognise that he had been insulted. He saw the hint of pain at the edge of John's irate gaze, the tension in his jaw as he tried to keep back a frown of dismay and the stiff manner in which he stood, an offensive pose to mask his vulnerability. Josh reminded himself that John Hoynes was only human like everyone else and that knowing Josh and Sam had come to him as a form of punishment was as hurtful to him as it was offensive.

Josh lowered his hand from his brow and sighed as in the spirit of Christmas he decided to make light of his situation and offer John some sort of amusement.

“I made the mistake of introducing Leo's youngest daughter to a man who isn't just a Republican but is also old,” Josh confessed his crimes wearily.

“He's only two years older than you Josh,” Cadence's stony voice called from behind the pair.

Josh and Sam turned simultaneously in surprise. “Old for you,” Josh said, “see, you didn't let me finish,” he added with a mocking smile.  
Cadence frowned at him as she stepped into into the room. She looked to John and conveyed an apologetic stare to him before she turned back to Josh with fresh venom in her grey-blue gaze.

John for his part was keeping a perfect mask of indifference on his face. The obvious thought racing through his mind was that the gap between he and Cadence was greater than the one between Cadence and Tom Landis.

“That's really not up to you to decide, or dad,” she said crossly. She raised her hands to her hips and glanced from Josh to Sam. “Is that why you're here?”

Josh was a little taken back by her angry stance, he hadn't been an anticipating a run in with her here. He realised that had been a foolish oversight given she did work in this building. Like Sam she had made some attempt to convey the holidays in her attire, donning a forest green velvet blazer over a white vest top with plain, navy trousers. There was also a gold pendant of a reindeer dangling from a fine chain at her throat.

Josh fixated of the gold plated adornment before realising that he was effectively staring at her chest. He summoned back some of his confidence, unhappy that Cadence had managed to shake him with her arrival.

“Your dad's really quite mad that Tom is, in his words, almost forty which means there is hardly a decade between him and Leo,” Josh retorted with an uneasy smile.

Cadence sighed. “Trust dad to think of it that way even though it is more than a decade. And you Sam, what did you do to annoy dad?” She looked to Josh's embarrassed colleague.

“Um...” Sam smiled nervously. “I was just standing to close to Josh when the shouting began I think.”

“No,” Josh protested loudly as he turned to Sam with a frown and pointed at him accusingly, “you're going to his ex-wife's for Christmas dinner!”

“She's not his ex!” Cadence snapped.

The young woman surprised the three men with her sudden anger as her outburst came almost immediately and her already unimpressed expression curdled to anger.

Noticing the surprise in Josh and Sam's gazes, Cadence attempted to mollify her own rage filled face. “They're not divorced,” she stated pointedly as she pushed back a stray stand of hair.

“Right,” Josh continued to eyeball her like she might explode, “I'm sorry,” he added quietly.

Josh couldn't understand her anger, Leo seemed to have come to terms with the separation, at least it was the impression he gave at work, and it was common knowledge that the relationship between Cadence and Jenny was frosty at best so it was hard to imagine she felt so strongly about the separation.

Cadence made herself smile back at Josh as she realised her yelling at been inappropriate. “You're right though, dad is probably mad Sam is going there for dinner. I mean you work for dad,” Cadence pointed out as she turned her smile on Sam, “that's a questionable sort of loyalty.” She raised her tawny eyebrows slightly as her eyes glimmered with mockery.

Sam flustered slightly as he frowned and drew himself upright, preparing for a protest. “It's loyalty to Mallory and she swore it was fine, she said she checked with Leo first and that you and she had agreed to...” Sam trailed off as his frown deepened. “She was just humouring me, wasn't she?”

Josh and Cadence nodded in answer at the same time.

“Can I interrupt this riveting conversation?” John quipped sardonically as he placed his palms on the desk and leaned onto it to stare them down. “I do have business to wrap up before I depart for my own Christmas arrangements.”

“Apologies sir,” Sam said sincerely as he pushed his glasses up again. “As Josh was saying, the President wants you to help with the bipartisan talks over the non-defence spend, if we could discuss the options the President wants approved for spend.”

“Sure, sure,” John stood upright and waved him off with disinterest.

“The President also wants your help this afternoon,” Josh spoke up. His voice was void of emotion as he kept his expression neutral and deliberately fixed upon John.

John stared back and his brow wrinkled slightly as he gave Josh a questioning look, recognising the default defence mode Josh had suddenly taken on.

“We want to get a suggestion to the House regarding the change in benefits to people with responsibilities for dependents, it's a big group and a questionable amount of money to shift but Leo worked on the numbers. We can shift the money around without tax cuts, it's a good plan but we need it through fast. Congressman Moss is on board to raise it.”

“Why?” John queried.

“To block Tom,” Cadence answered angrily as she folded her arms and glowered at Josh's back.

Josh felt the burning stare and struggled to ignore it as he held John's stare. He hadn't wanted Cadence to hear this but time was of the essence.

“The tax reduction is going to pass in the House if we don't do something,” Josh answered seriously, “this is a better solution and avoids the tax issue.” He waved his left hand outwards to emphasise his point. “It'll pass too and it still benefits the same people, it just has our name on it.”

“I see.” John's gaze darted over to Cadence who couldn't conceal her displeasure. He shifted his gaze back to Josh. “Just as well Congressman Moss has been campaigning for single mothers to have more support,” he mused dryly, “or it would seem like we only want this to stop the Republicans getting credit for it.”

Sam looked to Cadence apologetically. He knew why Leo and the President were doing this, the Democrats were in power without the House, they couldn't afford the Republicans to gain any more popularity or push through any more of their own policies. He also knew why Cadence wouldn't see it like that and he did not envy Leo his position.

“On Christmas Eve?” Cadence snapped. “That's a shitty move.”

“Cadence,” John chided her sharply. He met her answering glower with a tranquil stare. “Not in my office,” he ordered calmly. “Josh, Sam, anything else?”

The pair shook their heads. Sam still bashful and apologetic whilst Josh was the opposite, resolute and firm faced.

“Alright.”  
Josh's stoic expression slipped for confusion. “Sir, are you going to do it?”

John sighed as he pressed down on his desk with both hands. “I don't think the president asks,” he retorted with a small smile. “It's an order Josh, don't treat it as anything else. Set up the time with my office.”

Josh nodded before turning to retreat. It was hard for him to bypass Cadence and her fiery stare. He felt her burning gaze follow him as he edged out the office behind Sam. It was only as he shut the door behind him that he wondered why Cadence was even in the office in the first place. She hadn't bothered to explain her intrusion and he supposed it wasn't his business but then his brow furrowed up slightly as he thought about how John had been surprised to see him and Sam and had fumbled to conceal a box and compose himself.

Josh shook his head. He had enough problems without adding any more to them.

Back in the office, Cadence had turned her glower on John. “You asked to see me sir,” she reminded him.

John nodded as he opened his desk drawer. “Yes, although the mood seemed dampened now,” he complained. He tugged the box out and set it on the centre of his desk. “For you, something small for the holidays.”

Cadence regarded the box in surprise before turning her startled gaze up to John. “Mr Vice President I-”

John held up a hand, cutting her off even as he felt the warm rise within him as she sounded out his title. “Open it before you reject it,” he suggested with a smile.

Cadence stepped forward to the desk, tensing as it brought her closer to the man. She looked down at the box and considered another refusal but she knew John would keep insisting she at least open it. It was a shiny purple box tied up with a neat, translucent, gold ribbon and bow. Intrigued, she tugged at the ribbons and freed the bow before lifting up the lid.

John caught a whiff of her vanilla perfume and his nostrils flared slightly in revulsion. He hated that it was becoming familiar on her and despite the familiarity of it, he wasn't adjusting to it.

Cadence filled with fresh surprise at the contents. It was a charming snowglobe resting on a green platform marked in white with Smithsonian Zoo. Inside the globe was a pair of resin carved raccoons, one upright on its hind legs and the other beside it on all fours. “I...thank you sir,” she said sincerely.

“I'm not sure what Lucky's friend is called,” John confessed, “but I'm sure you'll figure it out.”

“Roland,” Cadence retorted quickly. “Roland is kind of fat, then there's Daisy and Autumn.”

John gave a small grin at this. “I should have realised you would know that,” he said softly. “Well, you can say that's Lucky and whichever one you like second best.”

She gave an embarrassed smile and murmured, “I didn't get you anything.”

John's grin widened. “I didn't do it for something in return,” he insisted. “Merry Christmas Cady.”

Cadence nodded. “Merry Christmas Mr Vice President.”

John was careful to guard his expression as he felt an excitable rise as she sounded out his title. He wondered again if she knew the effect it had on him, surely she did knowing him as well as she did and yet he couldn't imagine she would be malicious enough to toy with him. His dark blue gaze stared down at her, studying her fair features as he felt envy replace his lust. He was eager to reach out and run his fingers down her smooth cheek and press his mouth against her soft lips. Ever since she had denied him in Texas he had become tormented with memories of her warm body pressing against his, her hips shifting as she moaned with pleasure and gave herself up to him but only after he had worked for it and been left panting and sweat soaked for his efforts. He thought of the Republican who had taken her from him and then he thought of the humiliating blow he would help deal him and he smiled.

John Hoynes' joy returned as he realised that despite meaning to bring him an arduous task, Josh had actually gifted him with something pleasant.

Cadence missed John's smile as she was looking at the globe and tracing her fingertip against the glass. She felt an odd sort of guilt, guilt for not getting John something and guilt for accepting this gift. Sure she could say it was just a token present from her boss but she knew John had not gotten gifts for anyone else on his team and there was a meaning to this gift which made it so much worse.

\----

Leo looked to Jed calmly. If it weren't for the decorations that dressed the White House, one wouldn't know it was Christmas. There was no calm for the holidays, just last night news had come of soldiers killed in Iraq and a response in the form of explosions, one of which has caused collateral damage in the form of approximately sixty innocent Iraqi villagers. Collateral damage, it was a term that wore heavy on Jed sometimes, Leo usually ran with it although recently he was finding it harder.

It was early afternoon although the dark of winter had already settled in bringing heavy, blue tinged grey clouds and a sharp wind with it. There was a chance for snow although the less festive weather reporters suggested sleet and more likely rain that would turn to ice as the day passed.

“Well sir, are you definitely doing this?” Leo quipped.

Jed gazed across the Oval Office to his closest friend curiously. “It was your idea,” he pointed out calmly.

Jed's dark blue gaze darted down momentarily to Leo's right hand.

Leo was thumbing an object clenched tightly in his fist. He glanced down to his hand briefly before looking back to Jed.

“I know,” Leo said with a hint of defensiveness in his tone, “and it's a good one.”

Jed nodded as he waited for Leo to divulge what was on his mind.

“La- Congressman Landis,” Leo corrected himself, “had something good that's all, he's just asked the wrong Republicans to push it. By giving into them, we're giving into the extremists and that looks weak.”

“He did ask them though Leo, maybe he didn't suggest using Colombia as a gambling chip initially but it still happened, it's still Congressman Landis' play.” Jed folded his arms as he gave Leo a questioning stare. “Do you believe him about Haffley and Colombia? Do you think Haffley just got curious of his own accord?”

Leo glanced again to his clenched hand. “I didn't at first but I do now sir,” he confessed. “The Republicans still don't seem to know what Landis...Congressman Landis,” he corrected grudgingly, “was doing in Chicago.”

Jed gave a slight smile as he noticed Leo's sudden reluctant respect for Tom Landis' title. “And is that giving you cold feet about this?”

Leo turned his head sharply to give Jed a wide eyed stare of protest. “No sir,” he said firmly. Wrinkles that seemed to have blossomed after the debacle that was Colombia, tightened at Leo's brow. “Maybe that's my problem. I sent Cady to Colombia without the protection she needed to apologise for something she didn't do to stop the possibility of war. I wasn't looking out for Cady, I was looking out for the country and she got hurt but peace was ensured and I'd do it again, in a heartbeat. Congressman Landis however, Tom,” Leo's tone softened slightly as he raised his clenched hand before him and opened it to reveal a crumpled up red napkin with a note scribbled on it. “Tom did the opposite, he chased this meeting for weeks but Cady called him up and he dropped everything for her and I don't think he was thinking of Haffley or alternatives then, I believe now that all he thought was Cady mattered and that was it.”

Leo turned a serious stare up to his friend and boss. “I feel a little like we're punishing him for it even though he has to know this is coming. I mean I ruined dinner with the man, now we're doing this on Christmas Eve but I'll do it sir because it's for the good of the party and the country.”

Jed's azure stare turned sympathetic and he relaxed his stance. “Well we could've postponed until New Year if he hadn't brought Senator Whyte into it. We both know even if I knock it back the House will push to pass it and they'll succeed,” he added gloomily.

“I know sir, which is why we have to do this now when they think we'll be quiet. Congressman Moss is on board to raise the idea of a new benefit system that will look more closely at those who fall into the cracks and Josh and Sam are taking it now to the Vice President to support it. Since it's a wider scope of people than just guardians, if we get it raised before this evening, Congressman Landis' suggestion looks weak in comparison.”

“We're still helping the people he wants, just not with unnecessary tax reductions,” Jed pointed out.

Leo nodded this time. “Hmm but our idea wouldn't have come without his. It's still his only without his name on it. It will cost him voters if his district finds out he delayed and flip-flopped on it.”

“He got his seat re-secured just as we survived midterms, he's safe for another while,” Jed reminded Leo. “He's in danger when we are.”

“No one is ever safe sir.”

Jed's face turned sombre as he nodded at this. He clapped his hands together as he banished the grim mood for a smile. “So, did you get him anything for Christmas?”

Leo scowled at this quip and he clenched his fists, crumpling the napkin again as he did. “Sir, didn't I tell you he's thirty-eight?” he complained.

Jed chuckled at Leo's irate display and raised his hands slightly to his hips. “Leo you've mentioned it so often even Admiral Fitzwallace and Charlie know his age now. I had Zoey tell me just this morning,” he remarked as he wagged his finger at Leo scornfully, “that there must be no more commenting upon the age difference between her and dear Charlie as Cadence has outdone this.”

Jed waved his hands outwards dramatically. “I said, Zoey it is not a competition and do you know what she said Leo? She said, at least Charlie voted for me.”

Leo's scowl deepened as Jed laughed. “I'm still not okay with it,” he complained.

“Nor will you be Leo, you're a father, a father of daughters just like myself.”

“Yes but a boyfriend is one difficulty, a middle-aged Republican,” Leo shuddered slightly, “that is quite another.”

Jed nodded. “Well I agree and if it were Zoey I'd have set the Secret Service upon him but as it is Cady, I suggest benevolence and toleration Leo. She's like Ellie, she has that rebellious streak. Be thankful for the little things, he could be a fascist instead of a liberal and,” Jed added pointedly, “it was you who ruined the dinner, not him.”

Leo winced slightly. “Thanks for the reminder sir.”

Jed gave a softer chuckle at this. “It is a terrible pity Tom is a Republican. Anyway, let's not dwell on his flaws and hope that news of our little coup against him doesn't reach Zoey or Cadence's ears tonight, they have a nice evening planned together I'm told.”

\---

As the afternoon crossed into evening John Hoynes, despite being in a rush to salvage some of the planned schedule for the day, was vigorous with victory as he paced through Capitol Building. Congress was an irony to John, it was meant to be a place of balance and unity but to the South Wing was hostility in the form of the Republican dominated House of Representatives and to the North Wing was paradise, the only place he could truly call himself President, President of the Senate.

Today he didn't feel the discomfort of being outnumbered by hostile politicians. There had been victory. Sure the House still had to officially pass the matter, the Senate had to concur and then the president had to consider it but it was in motion now and the Republicans couldn't stop it. John's speech and arguments in the Senate had been some of his best and his understanding was that Congressman Moss had carried out an equally good job. There was little for the Republicans to refute and he knew they'd have to swallow their pride and accept it as getting what they had asked for without being able to prove they'd really asked for it.

John frowned as he thought of Cadence and knew she would have a mixed response to it, what was good press for him was bad news for her boyfriend. It irked him to feel annoyed over something that should fill him with pride.

John walked over polished cream and red tiles passing statues and columns that smacked of grandeur and invoked an imagery of a Roman Senate. Being here always made John think of Cadence's infamous thesis. He would never say it aloud but her comparisons between modern day democracy and Roman dictatorship were not entirely inaccurate. He was alone in his thoughts even as various senators and congressmen bypassed him and his Secret Service staff followed closely in his shadows.

John's irritation grew as he considered Cadence and how this victory would upset her. Surely she could understand that Landis had effectively brought this on himself by crowing too loudly for the tax reductions. He'd been foolish getting another congressman involved when it was a fascist who'd brought up Colombia, that had all but sealed the fate of his request with Leo, and adding Senator Whyte to the matter was the icing on the cake. By God how John enjoyed being able to stand in Whyte's way over something and to take Landis down with him was a delightful bonus.

John felt his joy return at the thought of Senator Whyte miserable in failure.

He looked ahead and wondered if it was fate that he should spy the target of his grief walking up the corridor.

Tom Landis looked disgruntled as he walked quickly with a frown on his face. He had been in the House of Representatives, trying and failing to overturn or evade the Democrats attempt to leech of his proposal and shape it into their own. He halted as he almost walked into John and a startled expression crossed his features before he softened his face into neutrality.

“Good evening Mr Vice President.”

John smiled, feeling a certain smug superiority as Tom sounded out his title. “Good evening congressman,” John retorted. “Although, perhaps not for you,” he added with a glint of mirth in his eyes.

It had the desired effect as Tom immediately scowled.

John wondered at the time, getting things moving today had been a rush and time had passed him in a blur. It was impossible to guess in here as the hall was brightly lit with chandeliers giving no indication to the lateness of the hour.

John extended out a hand. “It was only business nothing personal,” he remarked.

A few curious senators and congressmen had stopped to witness the exchange out of curiosity and perhaps a morbid desire to witness an argument.

Tom nodded as he glanced to the hand. “Of course,” he said quickly. He gave a grin and added, “a good victory for you but we still hold the House.” He accepted the hand and they shook.

John bristled at the man's cocky reminder and switched to a new topic. “Well, we can be amicable now, work's done and the holidays are coming. Are you seeing Cady for Christmas?” John pried as he held Tom's hand and fixed a friendly stare upon him giving the appearance that he was trying to be polite. He knew Tom had to be, of course he would go running for comfort and consoling to his girlfriend.

Tom nodded as his blue gaze brightened with the mention of her name. “Yes,” he admitted, “and you sir, are you spending time with your family?”

John nodded even as he filled with fresh anger. He realised that so long as Tom continued to make plans with Cadence it didn't matter what political victories John scored, Tom would always have the final victory.

Consumed with anger, John suffered a moment of carelessness. A vicious smirk cut across his handsome features before he tugged Tom close without warning. He was conscious of their audience and smug that Tom wouldn't offer much retaliation for what he was about to say with an audience watching.

“You should know something about Cady,” John addressed him in a low voice as he leaned close to Tom's right ear.

Tom tensed in the Vice President's grasp, too confused by the gesture to be annoyed.

“I fucked her first,” John boasted quietly with a small smile.

John released Tom hand and sidestepped him hastily. He walked on briskly with a smile acting as if he had not been crude.

Tom gaped after the man, stunned as his skin turned pale.

It took Tom a couple of minutes to snap out of his shock enough to move again. He became aware of the still watching senators and congressmen, some of them murmuring quietly to each other as they wondered at Congressman Landis' suddenly pallid face.

Without thinking too hard about it Tom walked quickly away, determined to escape as fast as he could. His earlier feeling of humiliation in the House was back only it was ten times worse and he didn't know how to get it under control.


	43. Celebrating Commiserations

Cadence was wary of the extra agents on guard as she paced up the corridor towards Zoey's college suite. They weren't even subtle like Gina, with no attempt to blend in as fellow students. Two stood to attention at either side of the door and asked Cadence for her I.D before they permitted her to knock. When the door was opened Cadence discovered the reason for the additional security.

Eleanor 'Ellie' Bartlet's gaze of surprise was brief before she banished it for hostility.

Ellie glanced over her shoulder immediately and called out, “looks like your friend's here Zoey.”

Cadence stiffened at the impersonal terminology for herself as she continued to stare at Ellie in shock. The middle daughter of the Bartlet family hadn't changed much since they had met. She had the same red toned brunette locks as her sister and mother coupled with her mother's dark stare but it was her father's solemn side that dominated her features. She was demure, dressed casually in loose trousers and a jumper, ever eager to force herself into the mould of the 'plain Jane' of her family so she wouldn't attract attention. It had never quite worked for Ellie to evade the limelight, she blamed her father's lifestyle choices for this, unable to see that she had the same appealing spark in her that her sisters Zoey and Liz had only they had fuelled it into a fire.

Ellie turned her hostile stare back onto Cadence.

“How have you been Ellie?” Cadence queried quietly.

Ellie folded her arms and frowned at the woman. “I'm usually fine until I read a newspaper,” she replied in low voice heated with anger, “you seem to court them.” Ellie's frown deepened as her dark eyes began to simmer with rage. “He doesn't deserve to have his memory tarnished so much, I'm not sure if you have even made it to a year in your post and yet in such a short space of time I've seen Robbie's name multiple times.” Her voice became full of woe as she raised it slightly. “Each time it's a fresh pang through me, I cannot even begin to imagine what it's like for his family. Do you ever think of them Cadence or do you just think of headlines? Is it a case of all press is good press?” she quipped bitingly.

“Ellie stop,” Zoey's voice pleaded quietly from behind.

Zoey stood in her sister's shadow, a rare position for her despite being the youngest. She was a complete contrast to Ellie, ready for a night out wearing an eye catching dress of crimson.

Ellie continued to frown as she cast her gaze to the door frame. All the while the stoic agents stood silently by pretending not to hear the discussion.

“I told myself I would say something,” Ellie said firmly, “for his sake.”

“Ellie I never wanted his name dragged up like that,” Cadence retorted as her mouth turned down and she raised her hands to fiddle with the buttons on her navy coat. “It upset me too,” she insisted. “Every time someone said his name my heart broke all over again.”

“Well given your position is public relations you should be taken better care,” Ellie scolded her.

Cadence's body turned rigid with the accusation and she sucked in her bottom lip slightly before nodding. Anyone else and she might have bit back but Ellie's admonishing stare had her cowed into guilt.

“I'm trying Ellie, I am,” Cadence insisted, “to make peace with what happened to him and to try and make sure it doesn't happen to someone else.” She swallowed hard and raised her hand to push at her neatly curled locks. “I've been pushing the senator and the representatives in Chicago for better CCTV in the area.” She trailed off seeing the anger continue to flash in Ellie's eyes. Her hand slipped back down to her side. “Look, it's Christmas-”

“That's why I'm here,” Ellie interrupted. She glanced over to Zoey again, her gaze mellowed for her sister. “To see Zoey's accommodation at long last and have Christmas dinner with the family.”

Cadence extended a hand out towards her in a gesture of offering. “You could join us tonight,” she suggested softly.

Ellie shook her head at this. “No, I'd rather not ruin the mood for any of us.” Ellie finally stepped back from the doorway. “I'm leaving anyway.” She headed over to the chair where a tan coat was hanging, grabbed it and put it on. “Be careful of the press Zoey,” she cautioned her sister, “especially considering the company you keep.”

Cadence tensed again with the obvious accusation but she had no argument to offer, it was true, she drew a lot of press despite her best intentions.

“Ellie, come on, that's not fair,” Zoey retorted. “Why don't you join us?”

Ellie gave her sister a small smile. “I'd really prefer not to and I promised mom I'd be there tonight. Have a good night Zoey and I'll see you tomorrow.”

Zoey returned the smile although her gaze remained irritated. “Alright Ellie, see you tomorrow.”

Ellie returned to the doorway, looking at Cadence pointedly until she stepped back.

“Have a good night Ellie,” Cadence said quietly.

“Make sure Zoey does too,” Ellie responded calmly.

Ellie started to walk off with her entourage of Secret Service, her frown making it clear that she didn't appreciate the attention they were drawing to her.

Cadence watched the woman go with a gaze of guilt-fuelled grief. They had been so close once and Cadence had many fond memories of the middle Bartlet child but there were many angry ones too as their shared relationship with Robbie had destroyed their friendship. Given he was now five years deceased, Cadence wondered bitterly how it was that his death hadn't been able to bring them back together again.

“Cady,” Zoey called out to her friend gently.

Cadence glanced over to Zoey in surprise before giving her a wide smile. “Ready to go then Zoey?” she quipped with a forced happiness.

Zoey nodded. “Hey, did you get hold of Tom?”

The mirth vanished from Cadence's gaze and her mouth settled into a line as she tried to hold off the frown. “No,” she admitted.

Cadence didn't want to labour Zoey with the details of the day. How she knew that Tom had suffered a humiliating loss in the House thanks to some sly manipulations from the West Wing team and a quick manoeuvre from the Vice President. She had been trying to get hold of him after learning of the outcome in the House in part to console him but also to extend him an invite to her night out with Zoey as Charlie was also coming.

The entire situation had made Cadence feel awkward. She knew she be glad for the victory and she was, it was good P.R for John after all and he had been able to deal a blow against Senator Whyte, although Cadence was wary he might pay for that. She knew if she didn't know the Republican at the heart of it she would have been delighted but she did know him so she couldn't feel the joy of victory like the other Democrats. Cadence was just grateful she hadn't seen John today and wouldn't see him until after Boxing Day.

“Oh, do you want me to tell Charlie not to come?” Zoey offered. “It won't be a problem,” she added quickly with a smile.

Cadence smiled back and shook her head. “No, it's fine, the more the merrier. I know you're not seeing him tomorrow B.B and you want some Christmas time with him.”

Zoey gave a grateful smile before she hastened to grab a coat. As she pulled one on, she paused at her vanity table to spray on more perfume.

Cadence's smile widened as she watched Zoey. It was nice to see that despite her father's profession, Zoey was still capable of the normal teenaged experience of first love and the nervous butterflies and endearing mixture of vanity and self-consciousness that came with it.

“Well, you should try Tom again,” Zoey suggested, “isn't it your first Christmas together?” she added with another grin.

With Zoey's words, Cadence blushed slightly as she wondered if she was falling into the trappings of young love, it wasn't the same as first love but it had a certain giddiness to it that came with the youth of a relationship when one was still in the honeymoon period and celebrating the firsts of it- first kiss, first date, first Christmas. There was also nerves with it, that worry about your partner's opinion because you didn't know them quite well enough to figure out their emotions, the fear of inadvertently scaring them off or getting too close because you might lose them. Cadence felt a tightness in her stomach at that thought as she wondered if it was maybe just her fear.

Zoey returned to the door and stepped out, taking care to close and lock it behind her. “You know I'll want to hear more about him tonight Cady cat, all I get from dad is that he's old and in the wrong party.”

Cadence snickered at this. “Well, Tom has positive attributes too,” she joked.

The pair started walking and it was only as they neared the end of the corridor that Cadence noticed the change in accompaniment.

“What happened to Gina? Is she on leave for the holidays?” Cadence queried curiously as she glanced over her shoulder to the two agents in tow. They were dressed smartly, not quite penguin suits, they stood out a little as bodyguards but Cadence figured they would blend in once they were actually out, fitting in with the other fancy dressed Christmas celebrators.

Zoey dipped her head slightly and pressed the tips of her two middle fingers together as she considered her answer. “Um, it was time for her to move on, some other Secret Service work I guess,” she retorted awkwardly.

Cadence glanced at Zoey out of the corner of her eye curiously as they continued walking. “You guess,” she stated flatly. “Did she not tell you B.B? No fond farewell?”

Zoey sighed. “She was um too strict,” she murmured.

“So not it was time for her to move then,” Cadence retorted. “Did you get her fired?” she queried suspiciously with a hint of mockery in her voice.

“Not exactly, look it's common to change over agents, keeps people from spotting them or spying a trend or something like that,” Zoey muttered. “Can we not talk about it Cady, I want to try and just be a normal college student having a nice night out for Christmas.”

Cadence held her hands up apologetically. “Alright B.B, we'll have merriment, festivities and tinsel galore.”

“And eggnog?” Zoey pried hopefully. She turned an eager glance up to Cadence, showing off her silver, pine tree shaped earrings as she did.

Cadence laughed and pulled a face at the suggestion. “No, it's disgusting and you're underage. As Ellie reminded me, I've made the press enough without some headlines about getting the underage First Daughter drunk.”

Zoey pouted slightly at this. They stepped out of the accommodation building at last and veered for the waiting private car. “When did you become no fun Cady cat? Are you acting mature now because you're dating a pensioner?” she teased.

“Ha, he's only thirty-eight,” Cadence retorted even as she grinned, “and you won't be meeting him if you're going to call him that. Dad's complained so often about his age, I actually caught poor Tom hunting out grey hairs!”

Cadence's smile faded again as she thought of Tom and wondered how he was. She knew she was going to have to call him again, the feeling of worry for him had settled in her gut and it wasn't going to shift until she learned how he was.

Zoey laughed, missing how Cadence's expression had shifted to sombreness as they approached the car.

\----

Josh had his head buried in his arms as he sought escape. He had settled for a lull that was neither asleep nor awake and was quite alarmed when his phone started ringing.

“Don...Donna,” he mumbled as he fumbled to sit upright. “Donna noise!” He palmed his face and blinked at the red light flashing on his phone in confusion.

Wondering if he was still asleep, he glanced at his watch and let out a groan. It was after seven in the evening and Donna was away, seeking some sappy form of Christmas magic in the form of a Christmas Eve date. Josh had teased and taunted her over it, scorning her for such sappy cliches, unwilling to admit that he was just envious that she had a date and he didn't.

Josh reached out and grappled with his phone, dropping it on the desk by accident before he plucked it up again.

“Um hello, Josh Lyman, er Josh Lyman's office,” he greeted tiredly as he reached a hand up to his brow and clenched his fingers against it.

“Wow I was right, you don't have a life outside work,” Tom Landis' sardonic voice retorted.

“Tom,” Josh greeted with surprise. He sat upright and glanced to his door, the blinds were parted and he could see no activity outside. He figured just about everyone had gone. He had some dim recollection of Sam and C.J wishing him a Merry or Happy Christmas, he couldn't quite recall which. He remembered clearly that Toby had been the one snarling about false merriment in a time of austerity.

“How...how are you?” Josh knew the question was dumb the moment it escaped him and he tried to avoid it but it was out there before he could help it.

“I think you could hazard a guess,” Tom retorted, maintaining his sharp sarcastic tone. “Do you have plans Josh? I'm sure you do, it's Christmas Eve after all but maybe you don't, which is why I called. I could do with a drink and better the devil you know, right?”

Josh was stunned at the offer. “Um...you don't have local friends?” he queried. “Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound how it did.”

Tom gave a brief, biting laugh at this. “Yes, you did,” he said calmly. “I don't have local friends without plans, most of them have family to spend the evening with and all my other pals are back in Chesapeake, seems a bit of a journey to make just to have someone to drink with.”

“What about Cadence?” Josh pried.

There was silence on the line, long enough for Josh to guess that when Tom finally responded he wasn't telling the entire truth.

“She's out,” Tom retorted bluntly, “with Zoey I think.”

“Oh.” Josh recalled Tom's confession about lacking parents and a sister. He could relate to it a little, it was why he was still in his office after all, trying to evade the holidays and the constant call of trumpets and flash of twinkling lights that conjured unpleasant memories for him. “Yeah, I've no local friends either,” he admitted. “Sam's on a date with Mallory, C.J wants to drink and watch movies alone, Toby embraces solitude and hates anything happy plus he doesn't celebrate anyway, and anyone else I know lives miles away.”

“So, would you like a drink with the enemy then?” Tom quipped, some of his usual warmth slipping back into his voice. “I won't even get mad if you call it a victory drink,” he tacked on.

Josh gave a half-smile at this and glanced at his watch again. “Sure Tom, let's have a drink.” He stretched and winced as his back gave a slight crack. “Where should we meet?”

“Midnight Midterms,” Tom responded, “I have a table there.”

“Alright then, er...” Josh glanced down at his wrinkled shirt. “Do I have to dress for this?”

Tom laughed. “Well I wouldn't comment but others might find nudity inappropriate.”

Josh was surprised by the bashfulness that overcame him. He bowed his head and fidgeted with his dark curls as he smiled. “Right, um that's not what I meant,” he answered quietly.

“I know Josh, wear what makes you comfortable.”

“Don't be vague like that, last time I followed that advice from someone I was in jeans and everyone else was in black tie,” Josh complained. “What are you wearing Tom?”

“Right now? Josh you'll have to pay good money for that answer,” Tom joked.

Josh gave a nervous chuckle as he felt that same odd, uneasy embarrassment again.

“A suit, not white for a change,” Tom remarked. “It is Christmas Eve after all even if it doesn't feel like it,” he grumbled.

“Okay, well I can manage a suit, give me...an hour?”

“Sure Josh, I'll see you there and thanks.”

“No problem.”

As Josh hung up the phone he wondered what in the hell he was thinking agreeing to drinks with Tom. Leo was already sore with him for hooking Tom and Cadence up, despite Josh's insistences that he hadn't, he could only imagine the rage his boss would have if he thought Josh was socialising with him too. Then there was Toby, the thought of Toby's reaction to Josh 'fraternising with the enemy' made Josh grin. It was just so hard to think of Tom in those terms sometimes, sure he could be the bastard politician as he'd proved with his attempt to sway the House to a tax reduction but outside of politics he was charming and friendly. He had a warmth to him many politicians didn't, Democrats included.

Josh stood up and glanced at his watch again before he hurried from the office. He figured if he moved fast he could squeeze in a quick shower.

\---

“Hey Tom, it's me again. Look, I don't want to be the needy, repetitively calling girlfriend so I'll make this my last call, I'd just like to know how you are. I'm out at the moment, at The Pearl Giftbox if you'd like to join us, looks like we're staying here.”

Cadence's twisted the phone chord about her fingers as she left a voice message on Tom's home phone. It was the second message she had left after trying his office phone earlier in the day and leaving a message there. She stood in a partially closed off phone booth, her free hand pressed up to her ear as she tried to block out some of the club's noise.

“Anyway, I hope you're having a nice Christmas Eve.”

Cadence hung up the phone and cursed as she realised she'd inadvertently knotted the chord about her hand. With effort she untangled it before grabbing her silver sequinned clutch from the shelf. She stepped back from the booth and made a beeline for the busy bar, ignoring the jovial calls she received from a group of middle aged men sharing shots at a table.

The Pearl Giftbox presented itself as an exclusive, classy but very much party oriented club. It had enough of a security presence for the Secret Service to consider it acceptable for Zoey to enter, although that didn't stop them from setting up at a table beside hers. The tables were both private, secured by Cadence in advance, it had been pricey but she was determined Zoey had a good night.

The music wavered between cheesy festive and the favoured pop hits of the decade picked by D.Js who mastered the music for two separate dance floors, one on the ground level and one for the more exclusive level above, where Cadence, Zoey and Charlie lingered.

The second floor was busy but not the crowded sweat fest of the ground floor, although the clientele for both floors tended to favour the rich college workers and high paid office workers, the second floor was that little bit pricier and fancier. Every table was decorated with sparkling, snow white covers, silver snowflake shaped coasters and in lieu of candles they had lit up snow globes for centrepieces depicting scenes of sleighs, snowmen, reindeer and Santa Claus. There were miniature, lightly frosted, false fir trees propped up in corners, decorated with lights, silver tinsel and topped with silver stars whilst silver baubles and glittering white snowflakes dropped down from the ceiling and the bar tops had glass topped that concealed a fake layer of glittering snow, highlighted by built in lights. Even the air had been scented with an odour of pine and spice although the colliding scents of expensive perfumes and aftershaves, and the mixture of scent tasting and smelling cocktails almost overwhelmed it.

Cadence matched with the décor unintentionally, having chosen a flattering, tight, silver sequinned dress for the evening with a silver snowflake charmed bracelet on her right wrist coupled with matching earrings. She also wore a pair of glittering silver pumps, not practical but they fit with the rest of her attire. Only her coat clashed with her outfit. It was currently resting on a chair at the table because she had refused to check it. Zoey had queried it and laughed when Cadence had refused to check it. Cadence had flustered to explain, blushing as Zoey giggled and rubbing her thumb over the Chessie pin protectively as she admitted the coat was a gift from Tom.

Cadence ordered a glass of sparkling wine at the bar and downed it eagerly from the champagne glass almost as soon as it was presented to her before requesting another eagerly along with a virgin Winter White cocktail for Zoey and a pint of beer for Charlie. She smiled at the barman as he offered to bring the excessively priced drinks to the table for her, before she paid by card.

As Cadence returned to the table she felt the fizz of the alcohol tinged bubbles begin to take effect making it easier for her to fake a smile for Zoey and Charlie. She didn't know how many drinks she had had now, she just knew she needed the alcohol to try and quell the knot of worry building in her but so far it wasn't working.

Charlie seemed to be forcing an effort too. He was tense, protective of Zoey and too wary of everyone around them. It wasn't that he didn't want to enjoy it, he did but part of him demanded that he stay on eternal guard for his girlfriend especially considering Rosslyn and another part of him was in a natural state of readiness in case disaster struck the White House and he got a call from work. It was the nature of the job, the President's business was all year long and matters of state ad country did not stop, not even for Christmas.

“Well guys, when are you dancing?” Cadence quipped as she sat down opposite them.

“Oh no,” Charlie retorted with a smile and a wave of his hands. “You and Zoey can dance, not me.” Charlie glanced over his shoulder to the dance floor and quipped, “I'm surprised there isn't a charge to go on there.”

Zoey gave her boyfriend a playful nudge. “It's not that bad,” she scolded him before she turned an excitable smile onto Cadence. “The music in here is great!”

Cadence gave Charlie a sympathetic look when he turned back to the table. “I agree the prices are a little steep,” she admitted, “but I figured it would please Zoey's college friends,” she said with a knowing nod to Zoey's entourage, “and it is Christmas.”

“Oooh,” Charlie pulled a face at Cadence's words, “that saying gets exploited a lot by Zoey.”

“It does not!” Zoey protested instantly with wide eyes. She could not even feign a show of rage however as the smile slipped out.

Cadence smiled too. “Well it's only once a year you can use the phrase. I find it's a great excuse to devour cheese boards,” she added eagerly.

“See now that I can't understand,” Charlie said with a shake of his head, “I mean you have so many other better choices for dessert.”

“Oh Charlie you just haven't had a good Parmigiano-Reggiano,” Cadence retorted brightly. 

Cadence glanced over as one of the Secret Service agents stood to accept their drinks. She stifled a smirk as he took the tray from the baffled, antler wearing waiter and scrutinised it carefully before presenting it to them.

“Thanks,” she said with a nod as she reached for her drink whilst Charlie lifted down the others. “Wow, guard duty and waiter service, very practical,” Cadence joked as she winked at Zoey.

Zoey giggled back before looking curiously at the cocktail she was presented with. It came in a tall glass with a honeycomb paper penguin and a glittering, white ball of fluff on a silver stick meant to resemble a snowball.

“Aww it's cute,” Zoey enthused. She twisted the penguin round before adding, “although nothing like the guys you make Cady cat.” Zoey glanced up to her friend and leaned across the table. “Did you get hold of Tom earlier?” she queried hopefully.

Cadence made herself maintain her smile as she shook her head. “No, he's probably out but I told him where we were just in case.”

Zoey's gaze brightened. “Oh, well maybe,” she chirped up.

Cadence nodded briskly this time, all too conscious of the concern in Zoey's eyes. She seized up her drink and downed half the glass as she stared out to the dance floor.

“I'm going to the ladies' room,” she said as she sat the half-drained glass down, “but after, we'll dance.”

Cadence stood up and headed for the staircase that led down to the toilets. She wobbled slightly on her heels. Telling herself she just wasn't used to her shoes, she grasped the bannister for support. The one thing the club lacked was two floors of toilets, a security hazard for Zoey for sure but there wasn't a lot that could be done about that.

\---

Josh looked across the dark table at Tom curiously, unsure why the man had insisted on going out. He could understand the desire to have a drink to ease the sting of the day or to even have several to block out the misery entirely but Tom evidently wasn't feeling eased and he was drinking too slowly to hit the stage of merry denial. 

The bar, Midnight Midterms, was a trap, it wasn't quite devil horns and hellfire but the Republican aura was there. The conversation amongst most of the small groups of drinkers was political, oriented around outrage over taxes and a desire for a stronger military presence, especially after Colombia. Josh wondered sardonically if they were ever getting out from under that cloud.

The bar itself was posh, man in a suit at the door posh, more of a hotel doorman than a bouncer, ready to turn away riffraff with a stare of contempt rather than a menacing show of muscles. Josh figured the wilting stare might be harsher, one could get over being told they were too drunk or rowdy for somewhere but simply not good enough because of class or a lack of wealth? That was cruel.

The bar was nice inside with a theme of black and gold with dark padded booths, subtle mood lighting and the detailed portraits of prominent politicians in history hung on the walls in gilded frames, mainly Republicans with a few token Democrats so one couldn't accuse the bar of being entirely one sided, even though it had chosen the conservative Democrats, renegades ill-liked by their own party.

Josh didn't really mind, the Christmas atmosphere was downplayed with a few small, black Christmas trees with gold baubles put up in corners grudgingly and a low hum of Christmas music over the speakers. No one was donning cheesy Christmas jumpers, flashing red noses or light up antlers. It was nice.

“Tom, are you okay?” Josh pried.

Tom looked up from his pint and gave Josh a bitter smile before his pale blue stare softened in apology. “No, I thought this might help but maybe I'm just wallowing now,” he admitted. “I'm sorry I brought you out to wallow too.”

Tom had been a million miles away and he knew it. Over and over he replayed that moment in Congress, not the political failure everyone assumed he was aggrieved with but those couple of minutes when the Vice President had drew him close to give a dark confession that Tom still couldn't come to terms with. He wondered sardonically how priests always managed to keep a solemn stare.

Josh gave an awkward grin at Tom's response. “Heh, wallow, I thought that was something warthogs or hippos did,” he joked.   
Tom offered Josh a courtesy smile at his jest but his stare was jaded as he was still lost in thought.

Josh took a gulp from his own almost finished pint. He didn't know what he was supposed to say and wondered again why he had come out.

“Tom, is it more than what happened today?” Josh pried. “I mean, is it more than the issue with tax reductions for guardians bothering you?”

Tom stared down at the table before sighing. “You know the VP said it wasn't personal but it was,” he said angrily.

Josh's brown eyebrows lifted slightly at the anger that slipped into Tom's voice.

“It was personal for me,” Tom muttered. He seized up his glass and took a deep gulp before setting it down again.

“What was? The legislation?”

Tom glanced up at Josh again, his gaze startled before the anger returned and he nodded. “Yes, that too. I wanted that to come from me, I wanted to be able to say, Merry Christmas, I've done this at least.”

“Merry Christmas to who?” Josh pried quietly.

Josh didn't think he really wanted to know, sure he had a curiosity about the matter in that it would reveal more about Tom but making things personal in politics especially when it was the losing side was a mucky business. One couldn't get that way about it, then you became bogged down, that was why it had to be about the people, what might be good for one person might not be so good for others and that was had you had to justify it in the end, that it was for the greater good, the majority. He realised it was one of the divides between Democrats and Republicans, the Democrats believed and pushed for community responsibility whilst the Republicans looked to the rights of the individual.

Tom fixed a serious stare on Josh.

Josh felt a little intimidated by Tom's stare, his eyes were so pale when he was angry they were like literal shards of ice. Josh's dark brown gaze darted down slightly, wavering at the blue tie knotted askew at Tom's throat before he made himself look up again to Tom's stare.

“My nephew, Henry,” Tom responded calmly. He stretched his right hand out across the table to tap on the wood with one finger. “He lives with his grandparents, his late father's parents, they don't earn much, never have and they've never taken a cent from me.”

Josh's chocolate brown gaze filled with realisation. “Ah. You wanted the bill for them,” he stated what now seemed obvious. He wondered at the mention of the boy's father being dead before pushing the thought away. Thinking about Tom's family grief only made him consider his own and with that grief came a rush of panic because he feared who might be next and how it might happen. It was the irrational fear that perhaps if he failed to do something or didn't do it right or on time it would lead to something which would lead to a catastrophic loss that couldn't be undone. It was the butterfly effect, some uncontrollable that Josh tried to control anyway.

Josh tensed and glanced to the tinted windows as he heard the faint blast of trumpets. Some street performers unseen trying to bring Christmas cheer. In that brief moment he despised them. He made himself return his focus to Tom, determined to stay in the present grim as it was.

Tom nodded. “Them and others like them, people who have to open their home without warning to extended relations to keep them from falling into the state's hands, to keep them with what family they can no matter what their financial situation is. They're not classified as fosters or adopters, not in the same way, guardians is the term and they never seem to have the support they should.” 

Tom leaned back in his chair with an angry shake of his head. “I suppose they're getting something now so I should be glad for it but damn it, you Democrats stole it away from me. It should have been my gift to them!”

Josh frowned at Tom's accusation. “Tom come on, I didn't do it and it was just politics, you know the game. You must have known the risks when you dropped it for Chicago,” it took Josh a lot of self-control not to say 'Cadence' instead. “Involving Haffley and especially Whyte wasn't a good move, you knew we'd have to respond to that.”

Tom sighed and waved off Josh's words. “I thought that maybe you guys could see reason with this,” he grumbled, “that it was a good thing to do but you couldn't let a Republican have that kind of victory,” he complained. “You took it from me, tweaked it and stamped the Democrats' name on it, made it official with your wonderfully charming VP,” he snarled sarcastically as the right corner of his mouth crept up in a sneer. “Twice now I've got screwed by your party with my pants on.”

Josh glanced at his watch and then turned his head outwards in frustration. “Why does that analogy keep coming up?” he quipped quietly. He didn't like the metaphor, it had him thinking inappropriately of its double meaning.

“I'm sorry Josh,” Tom said quickly as he pushed his left hand up through his hair, mussing the gelled spikes slightly, “I am. I didn't invite you out to be the bearer of my rage, that's not fair. It just was an all round bad day.”

Josh nodded before he turned back to his pint and finished it. He wondered again why Tom had invited him out, was he really the only one left in town for Tom to call? He knew it was Tom's insightfulness to have guessed correctly that Josh would be at work late even on Christmas Eve and without plans.

Tom finished his pint too. “Will you have another?” he queried.

Josh was ready to refuse after Tom's minor outburst but then he saw the plea in the man's blue eyes and knew his refusal would seem like another blow from the Democrats. Here he was getting personal again, he knew it was stupid, hell it was downright idiotic and risky considering the abuse he would take from Toby and Leo for it and probably some healthy dose of mockery from Sam too. He decided that Tom was too human for his liking, too charming and easygoing, it was impossible not to want to please him, to desire to banish the heavy woe in his arctic gaze and resurrect that odd, uneven smile of his.

“Sure Tom,” Josh gave in, hating himself as well for being a little too human for his own liking. He figured he could and would blame the beer. “Tell me, is something else bothering you? I think, despite what you said, you did want to vent to someone. Is it Cadence? Did something happen with her?”

Tom pulled his hands into his lap and bowed his head slightly. “I don't think I really know her Josh,” he said sombrely, “I thought I did but I don't know now. I think I made a fantasy of it and thought she liked me but I chased her I suppose. Maybe she is just trying to get back at her father and I'm too blind to see it.” Tom shrugged as misery filled with his face. “I wonder about it now.”

Tom turned his head up to Josh, offering him another smile, this one crooked and tense. “Here I am telling you and you know don't you? You call her names, you ward people off her, perhaps I should have listened. Hell she warned me too about complications.” His gaze brightened slightly as his smile warmed. “But she's such a wonderfully quirky woman and she has endearing oddities. She's strong too considering all she's been through in life, to still be able to get up and face her job and the press and the public, that's impressive and she cares so much for people, too much perhaps, her guilt consumes her.”

Josh knew he had a chance now to end Tom and Cadence and win back Leo's approval but hearing Tom's voice brighten as he listed Cadence's qualities had Josh realising that he just could not do it.

“Tom, Cadence took a risk dating you, she was already unpopular with the press, her father, the White House and the public after the Colombia mess. Yes, she earned back some support and forgiveness for her public apology there but if you need forgiveness it means you're guilty, publicly anyway,” he added hastily as he saw fresh anger bud in Tom's frosty stare. He held up his right palm slightly in protest. “I'm not saying she needed it Tom. My point is, dating a Republican was the last thing she should've done and if it was just for fun or a dalliance she could've picked a Democrat and if she wanted to get back at her father, well there is worse than you.”

Josh gave Tom a faint smile before he pushed his hands through his curls as he wondered how it was that he was now defending Cadence to her Republican boyfriend.

“Look Tom, I'm not exactly a fan of your relationship, mainly because Leo, her father and my boss, blames me for it, but I don't doubt the sincerity of it. I agree, she's problematic, super problematic, hell she just seems to attract trouble but I suppose she doesn't necessarily mean to and a lot of it has come from things she can't really help.”

Tom frowned. “Things in her past,” Tom said moodily, “at least, I think it's her past. I suppose we haven't known each other long enough for me to know for sure.” His frown deepened and he folded his arms. “What if her past has more terrible things to offer?” he queried darkly.

“That's unfair Tom, everyone has a past.” Josh's smile took on a sardonic tinge. “Granted, Cadence's past is more colourful than most and sadly a good chunk of it is quite public now.” He gestured to himself with one hand. “I'm usually her biggest critic for it. The problems she's caused Leo and the president over things in her past but I'll admit she's doing her best to make amends for it. She's grown since I first met her. I think Tom, this isn't as random as you're making out,” Josh guessed, “something has prompted this and it's a conversation you should have with her.”

Tom nodded before he glanced to the bar. “Well, let's not get into it. Let's have another drink and maybe forgo the wallowing.”

“Well Tom, if you don't want wallowing I'd suggest a better bar,” Josh said with a smirk. “Come on, let me take you somewhere with some real atmosphere. We can get inebriated, sing Christmas songs and come morning Tiny Tim will tell me it's a miracle and Leo McGarry has decided he likes you and all is forgiven and the world will be at peace,” he jested.

Tom laughed at this. “Sounds good. Alright Josh, show me how you Democrats celebrate.”

\---

Morose was not a mood for Christmas Eve. Cadence knew it and she knew that her poor form was affecting Charlie and Zoey's night despite her best efforts. It was why she had insisted on leaving them to it. They had been reluctant to share a dance despite her insisting and each one they had shared had been brief before they had hurried back to her, their poor third wheel. When they had both protested and worried over how she might get home, Charlie giving a serious stare that suggested he was concerned over the amount of alcohol she had consumed, Cadence had been jovial in an attempt to reassure them that it was no big deal.

Cadence hadn't given them much room to argue in the end. There had been a final drink and a farewell dance during which she had feigned some bright merriment so they accepted her mood was good. Then she had smiled, promised she was fine, reminded them she was an adult and grabbed her coat. Having Charlie insist on an escort to the taxi was unavoidable.

Cadence felt a little guilty over the matter but the crowd of party goers was beginning to feel suffocating even when they kept their distance. She had been surrounded by happiness and trying to fake it was exhausting and the alcohol hadn't helped. She couldn't shake her worry over Tom. Hell, if she really thought about it that was far from her only concern, especially since she figured he was probably fine just a little sore from the political beating he had taken. Although there was a slight fear that he might blame her for it somehow because she was indirectly to connected to him taking a desperate route to try and push his policy, which had ultimately led to its demise, a demise carried out by her boss the Vice President.

Cadence had been trying to block out thoughts of her family as well, tomorrow would be the first Christmas with her parents separated, the first Christmas her father had spent in a hotel and without Mallory. The worst was that Cadence's mother had yet to contact her, there had been no phone call to offer holiday cheer, a query over her plans or even a card.

Cadence felt a dull ache in her chest as she moved through crowds of merriment and festive well wishers. She had exhausted herself trying to fake a facade to blend in with them and keep Zoey's spirits high but the truth was her mood for the evening had been soured long before she had come out. First, there was Jenny's neglect, then Tom's failings and his avoidance of her, and then Ellie there in the flesh to confront her over all the bad memories of Robbie, Cadence had inadvertently caused to be publicly dragged up. It was hard to smile and say 'Merry Christmas' when thinking of one's murdered boyfriend. Every single time Cadence thought she had escaped that shadow something or someone always seemed to drag her back to it. It was as Tom had suggested, guilt was the penance she subjected herself to for the crime of living when Robbie had died.

Cadence sucked in a welcome breath of fresh air as she escaped outside. So many weren't seeing Christmas this year- the murdered people in Texas and Agent Benjamin Sparks were just a handful that came to her mind.

Charlie gave the woman a look of concern. Anxious as he was to return to Zoey and the warmth of the club, he wasn't going to let Cadence wander into the night.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Charlie queried quietly.

Cadence gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. “Charlie, I'll be fine, I promise, I know how to get a cab home from a club.”

Charlie gave her a small smile in answer and nodded. “Alright, well let me get the cab at least but you don't have to go you know.”

“I know but I want to and I want you and Zoey to have a good night. Come on, let's not keep her waiting.”

Charlie nodded again before he waved over one of the waiting cabs. He opened the door for her and stood waiting, watching attentively as she got in.

“Thanks,” Cadence murmured, “and Merry Christmas Charlie.”

“Merry Christmas Cady.”

She gave her address and sagged in the seat with a moment of relief.

Charlie closed the door after he heard her give her address, clearly despite her state of merry tipsiness. He watched the cab as it took off, making a note of the company and registration. It was simply paranoia coupled with protocol he learned over the years. Cadence was an adult and she had a right to go home alone if she pleased but he was a little concerned that perhaps she was a practised enough drunk to know how to feign some sobriety when necessary.

The night was almost over. Cadence could go home and sleep off her drunken stupor, maybe Tom would call, maybe he wouldn't, her mother sure as hell wouldn't at this rate but come tomorrow Cadence would fix on a smile and enjoy a Christmas lunch with her father. She gave a small smile as she considered that she was lucky to have another Christmas with her father. Tension replaced her brief joy as she considered just how close she had come to missing out on it. Colombia was another shadow she could never quite shake. Her hand brushed against her right side, shedding a silver sequin to the floor as her fingers pressed against an unseen scar. Tom had yet to ask about it but he had to know it wasn't natural. T for thief, T for traitor, T for tramp.

Cadence tensed up, reaching to grip her clutch tightly with both hands. She just wanted peace. A moment to hide from the world and delay dealing with it for just a few hours. Her hands abandoned the clutch to claw up through her scalp. Her head was spinning as her thoughts jumped about. She wondered if Tom would mind. She figured he could just not answer the door. Maybe he was in bed and she should just go home. Except she was wide awake, eager to hide from the world in Tom's spot but also filled with a desire to feel his warm body against hers and crush the terrible feeling of loneliness that haunted her.

Cadence smiled again as she figured if he didn't answer then she'd just head home but maybe he'd appreciate the surprise of her in a figure hugging silver dress. Her head bobbed forward to her lap and she reached her left hand up to her brow, she was feeling a little dizzy. Well Tom would have water, maybe she'd have water first and then some fun.

“Can you change the route please?” she quipped as she glanced up the driver. Her vision bounced slightly and she blinked hard.

“Sure, where to?” he grunted back without a glance.

Cadence's smile widened as she leaned back in the seat. “To my boyfriend's,” she said happily, liking how the word sounded on her tongue.

The driver shook his head. “Lady where is that?”

“Oh.” Cadence giggled before she gave the address. “He's not a snob,” she insisted, “well so he says but he has a hat stand. I mean he says it's for coats but it's not,” she babbled as the car changed route.

Cadence marvelled at the decorative lights they passed by before her head began to spin with the blur of lights prompting her to glance to her lap in an attempt to still the sudden rise of nausea.

Cadence closed her eyes as she tried to block out the bouncing. She was freezing and eager to be in a warm house, hers or Tom's it didn't really matter now, bed, water and heat seemed good enough.

\---

Josh continued singing 'Jingle Bells' off-key as he stepped out of the cab whilst Tom offered up a generous tip. Full of humour and warmed by whiskey after Tom had insisted he take some at the last bar they had visited, Josh didn't even feel the ice in the air. Happy and merry, he ignored Tom's laughter filled hushing noises and continued to sing Christmas tunes as he started walking up the sidewalk.

“Wait, wait,” Josh paused with a grin. He whirled round causing his long coat to swing out dramatically as he turned back to Tom with a grin. “Where do you live again?”

“Not that way,” Tom retorted with a smile. “Come on.” He turned round and started walking.

“Tom this really had better be the best whiskey in your house,” Josh called as he followed. “I'm talking, super valuable, gold flecked and all that, otherwise it won't be worth it because if Leo ever finds out-”

“Finds out what?” Tom sneered mockingly. “That you had a drink with a Republican? He'd think we were drinking the blood of innocents,” he remarked cheerfully.

“The old Republican,” Josh teased before he could help it. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets regretting his choice not to wear gloves.

“Ha, ha,” Tom retorted sardonically as he glanced back to Josh. “You're in my age group you know!”

“Yet I am younger,” Josh continued to joke. “Seriously though,” he raised a finger and mimed a 'shush' motion, “it's a seshcret.”

Tom's snickered at this. “We're not having an affair,” he mocked. “If I wanted that, I'd have picked Sam.”

“Hey!” Josh lowered his hand and gaped at Tom in surprise as he leaned forward. “Why'd you pick him?”

Tom halted as he faced Josh, raised his hands to his hips and he grinned back. “He's the cuter of you two.”

“Oh really,” Josh let out a burp before he could help it, “well you wouldn't be my Republican pick.”

Tom raised his eyebrows slightly at this and laughed. “You'd be lucky to have me.”

“No,” Josh protested as he pointed at him, “I'm the one getting the grief from Leo, you're...you'd be the lucky one.” He grinned happily at this. “I'm making the sacrifices. Even tolerating you, Leo still has it in for you,” he added.

Tom nodded. “I've noticed,” he said bitingly as he slackened his hands and glanced over his shoulder. “A liberal president but no love for the liberal Republican.”

“Is she worth it?” Josh jested. He regretted the question the moment it was out considering their earlier conversation. “Sorry, poor tact.” Josh started to sing 'Frosty the Snowman' in an attempt to divert from the topic.

It was too late, Tom was once again thinking about the bombshell the V.P had delivered him earlier. That terrible, taunting piece of news that Tom had spent most of the night trying and failing to forget. Every time he thought he'd quashed the thought suddenly it was there, an image of Cadence and the smarmy, sneering Vice President. Tom couldn't fathom it, Cadence was young as everyone had pointed out so it was impossible that she had ever had a relationship with John Hoynes while he was single. Had it even been a relationship or was it just a night stand? Either way it had to have been an affair. Tom didn't know what to think, he simply wished he didn't know but he did and he couldn't forget because he had to wonder why the V.P had told him. What did John Hoynes gain from such a dangerous confession? He couldn't work that out but he couldn't believe it was a lie either.

Tom turned to the right to face the steps that led to his house. His mouth parted slightly as his glazed blue eyes suddenly sharpened, focusing in on the small figure crouched on the steps.

Tom stepped forward cautiously, wary of the doubled over figure until a face turned up, peering out from a straggly clump of loose curls.

Tom halted and blinked in puzzlement as the figure looked up to him, bewildered and confused.

“Cady?” he quipped, still caught up in a moment of shock.

She gave a weak smile. “Sorry Tom. This, this was meant to be a surprise.” She let out a groan and burrowed her hands up into her hair.

“Well it's certainly that,” Tom murmured.

“No,” Cadence lowered her hands and looked up to him again. “A sexy surprise,” she snapped moodily. “Shit, you didn't answer your phone, you probably wanted left alone.”

“Rockin' around the Christmas Tree have a-” Josh paused in his singing as he arrived upon the scene. “Oh, um, Merry...Evening Cadence,” he said awkwardly as he took in the young woman's form.

Josh froze up, statue like behind Tom as he felt like a criminal caught in the act.

“I wasn't home,” Tom blurted out.

“Well you probably wanted alone or not alone not with me,” she mumbled, “but I was worried, you had a bad day.”

Tom smiled at her sympathetically. “I think you're having a worse one. Did...didn't...” He paused and scratched at his hair in confusion. “Didn't you have a good night?”

A burp escaped Josh before he could help it. “I am so sorry,” he said as they both glanced to him. He waved his hands out at them with a grin. “I didn't mean to ruin the drama, keep going.”

Cadence looked to Tom apologetically as she moved to stand, wobbling on her heels slightly. “I'm sorry Tom. I should've went home, we didn't make plans but I thought I'd surprise you and it's sexy because I'm in sequins and your daynight would be better and...and I was sick on your porch,” she concluded quickly. “Sorry.” She shrugged before groaning as her stomach churned and she raised a hand to her mouth.

“I should go,” Josh said quickly.

Tom glanced over his shoulder to the man still with a glimmer of confusion in his eyes. “It's okay, you can come in.”

Tom turned his attention back to Cadence, giving her another sympathetic smile. He stepped up to her, his grin stretching up his face as she shook her head and took a step back. “You little mess,” he teased as he leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. “Beautiful, little mess.”

Tom took the young woman gently in his arms. “I'm sorry, I didn't check my messages and I'm glad you're here.” He reached up to stroke her hair with one hand, brushing it against her cheek as he did. “You're freezing!” he scorned.

“So are you,” Cadence grumbled.

“Hmm, maybe, well let's get indoors then.” Tom hesitated to climb up the steps. “Where were you sick Cady?”

She pointed forward to the right side of the steps, her hand wavering as she failed to select a spot. “Somewhere there.” A hiccup escaped her. “Oh God,” she groaned.

Josh snickered from behind.

“I think maybe I'm not going to drink for a while,” Cadence murmured in between a chorus of hiccups.

Tom nodded agreeably as he guided her up the steps with effort. It took more concentration than he had expected as his own senses were dulled with alcohol. “Maybe we both should do that,” he mused. He reached out to the keypad, squinting and frowning as the numbers blurred and seemed to bounce slightly as he reached out to them.

Once they were inside Tom's apartment he helped Cadence take her coat off whilst Josh whistled appreciatively at their surroundings.

“Cady, that arm's out don't put it back in,” Tom said patiently as he wrestled with a sleeve.

“Is that a hat stand? Do you have hats?” Josh queried.

“See, you should have hats!” Cadence cried out as she tried to turn to face Tom.

Tom frowned as she became tangled in her coat. “Stay still,” he scorned.

With effort and some stumbling, Tom got Cadence's coat off and then his own before he put them on the stand with a pointed look to Josh. “Your coat for the coat stand,” he said as he held out a hand to Josh.

Josh had his hands in his coat pockets still and kept looking back as if for escape. “I'm not staying,” he muttered.

“You crossed the threshold, you're already damned,” Tom teased with a grin. “Come on, bad manners.”

“Snob,” Cadence murmured.

Tom held her to him with one arm whilst he waved his free hand out to Josh, waiting for his coat. He could smell vomit and champagne on Cadence, an unpleasant mixture that had him wanting to recoil.

Josh surrendered his coat reluctantly in one quick gesture. “Gold flecks Tom, I mean it.”

“In what?” Cadence queried sleepily.

“Whiskey,” Tom retorted as he released her to hang the coat. “None for you, bed for you.”

“You sound like dad,” she scorned. “I wanted to sit in the spot, it's quiet and safe.”

Tom looked at her oddly. “Safe from what?” he queried.

“The world.”

Cadence gave him a smile before she reached to him, slipping her right hand through a gap between the buttons on his shirt as she leaned close to him. “You're warm,” she said happily.

“You said I was cold.”

Tom raised his hands to steady her, squirming slightly as her other hand moved lower. “Company Cady,” he hissed out as he jerked back.

Cadence giggled. “Oops.”

“I really should...” Josh trailed off as he gestured behind him with a thumb.

Tom glanced to him apologetically, offering another lopsided smile. “No, give me a minute while I get Cady sorted. Come on, kitchen's through here I'll get you a glass of whiskey to have while you wait.”

Tom guided Cadence by one hand through to the kitchen. It was a generous size with a large island table furnished for four, vibrant and cream with a French Colonial style that managed to dominate even with the modern appliances in it.

Tom released Cadence to hunt out some glasses. He got her water from a filtered tap at the front of the fridge and pressed the glass gently into her hand before hunting out the whiskey from a bottle rack built into the wall beside a cupboard of fancy glasses with a square split view glass door and spotlights inside. 

“Tom,” Josh murmured as he eyeball the kitchen.

“Yes?”

“You're kind of a snob.”

There was a spatter and the sound of water spraying as Cadence choked on a mouthful.

Tom glanced in Cadence's direction with mild despair before he smiled and shook his head. “Just good taste,” he insisted before he set the glass and bottle on the island. 

Cadence gave a sudden yelp as she staggered on her heels and smacked into a worktop. “Oops,” she murmured.

“Dangerous footwear,” Tom scorned as he hastened to her. 

Cadence smiled and nodded as she slipped a hand about Tom and squeezed his buttocks.

Tom jumped slightly at the gesture before he smiled down at her and shook his head. “Naughty girl,” he scorned. He sighed and turned his head upwards, wondering if some higher power had guessed at his doubts and was now testing him. He was simultaneously grateful and hateful for Josh's presence, part of him wanted the man gone so he could give into his rising libido and Cadence's obvious urges but another part of him was glad he had a reason to resist her because he didn't think it was fair to jump into bed with her with his mind so clouded.

“Let's get you into more comfortable clothes,” Tom suggested as he began to guide her away.

“You want me naked, now who's naughty?” Cadence retorted gleefully.

Josh stared after them with an uncomfortable gaze and wondered if Tom would actually return. He winced as he heard the sound of feet stumbling upstairs followed by some thumping, a few curses and giggling. Josh's stare fell on the bottle of whiskey, he figured he'd two choices- sneak off quietly or get drunker and block it all out. Figuring it was the holidays and he was due a moment of recklessness, he reached for the bottle.

Upstairs, Tom found himself dusted in silver sequins as he wrestled with the zip on Cadence's dress. When he finally freed it and tugged it down he couldn't help but feel an amorous stirring in his trousers. When Cadence shrugged off the dress and turned to face him with her breasts exposed, he was incapable of resisting when she reached up to him, grabbing his head to pull herself up to kiss him.

Tom tensed as he felt her hardening nipples press into his shirt as her hands settled about his neck and her tongue roamed through his mouth. He knew he had to focus on something but also sensible thinking had left him. His brain was fuzzy and his thoughts blunt, right now there really was only one repetitive thought.

Cadence pulled away suddenly with a pant. She groaned and reached for the glass of water she'd left on the cabinet. 

Tom watched silently as she gulped half the glass down before pushing a hand through her messy hair.

Cadence turned back to him with an apologetic smile. “Sorry I'm so drunk, I think...I'm a little too tired for it Tom, sorry.” She stepped forward, stumbling just a little even though she was out of her heels and on her bare feet. “Can we sit in the spot? Can I have that? You and me? Where it's happy. I'm happy with you Tom, it's such a rare feeling, I'm terrified I'll lose it, can we sit in the spot where the happiness can't be touched?”

Tom gave her a sincere smile in answer before he pulled her into a tight hug. He cradled her soft body as close into him as he could manage without hurting her. He tried to force off the doubts that pressed against him, that quiet wondering if the affair had ended and when. He couldn't believe it of her that she would be with him and the Vice President. Josh was right, she wouldn't bring such difficulties upon herself.

“You like me then hmm?” Tom queried quietly.

“A lot.”

“Is it only me Cady?”

Cadence was confused by the question. She pulled back slightly to turn a glazed stare up to Tom. “It scares me, I lost them, Robbie and Benny. I thought alone was good but it's not. It's only you, only you to lose Tom.” She shuddered slightly. “Please don't lose me. Can we sit in the spot?” she pleaded. 

“Don't lose you?” he queried in surprise. Tom pushed some of her tangled hair away from her face as he gave her a look of concern. “To who?”

Cadence's eyes became damp as she suppressed a shudder. “I wanted to get lost but not like that.” She swallowed hard. “They made sure I'd remember, they scarred me.” 

“Hmm, well I'll always look out for you Cady.”

Cadence smiled. “And I'll always look for you Tom because you're the only one I would look at.”

Tom laughed, amused by her confusion over her words and thrilled with the confirmation that he was her only one. He kissed her, pressing his lips gently against hers as he closed his eyes briefly, wanting just as much as she did to preserve the brief moment of blissful happiness.

When Cadence hiccuped in his mouth and he caught a taste of vomit, the reality came thudding back.

Tom jerked back with an expression of distaste. “Right, clothes.”

Josh was half asleep when Tom finally returned downstairs. Slumped at the tabletop, he jerked upright at the sound of footsteps.

Tom gazed in at him sympathetically and beckoned him quietly.

Confused from drink and sleep detriment, Josh staggered to his feet. He walked forward silently, abandoning the half-emptied glass of whiskey and the open bottle. When he reached Tom he tensed slightly as Tom wrapped his arm over Josh's shoulders and drew him away from the kitchen.

Tom led him quietly to the stairs.

Josh felt a protest budding in his throat and Tom urged him up but for some reason he couldn't get the words out. Tom was making such an effort to maintain silence that Josh was afraid to break it with speech. Yet he didn't know what the hell was happening now and an odd sort of nervousness tried to creep up in him. The alcohol urged indifference and shoved back his fears, telling him that whatever would be would be.

Tom halted outside a door and opened it slowly to a cosy single bedded room with a bedside lamp on offering a welcoming glow.

Josh stared in, in confusion, there was a set of red plaid pyjamas sitting on the pillow and the room seemed in wait for a user.

“It's late,” Tom finally broke the silence although he kept his voice low, “and it's Christmas, cabs are double fare. You can stay here, no one has to know,” he added with a wink.

Tom stepped back, retreating before Josh could protest.

“Um...” Josh stared after him, determined to argue anyway.

Tom held up a protesting hand, before turning it into a 'hush' gesture as he pressed a finger up to his mouth. “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all men, even the Republicans,” he joked almost in a whisper. “Merry Christmas Josh, I'll set an alarm, make sure you don't miss your plans.”

“I don't...don't have any, not my thing.”

Tom flashed another smile at this. “Ah, at last we have a common ground. It's not my thing either.”

Tom finally retreated for bed, returning to his room where he'd left Cadence passed out. Tired but happy, he finally shrugged off his suit and slipped into bed beside the young woman. He wondered what she'd think of the Cromwell, Regis '98 t-shirt he'd put her in, a reference to the close but failed Republicans who'd ran against Jed Bartlet and John Hoynes in the Presidential Election. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I still have an end in mind but not really because I have a sequel in mind. This is addictive to type.


	44. Happy Holidays

A name. It was a simple, sleep addled sound mumbled in a dream. Innocent and easy to dismiss. One singular name, something so minor and yet it could be enough to cause major damage.

Hearing Cadence groan in her sleep had disturbed Tom from his own but when he had heard, or thought he heard, the name she cried out for, he felt his stomach tighten with unease.

The middle-aged politician looked down at the young woman in his bed wondering if this was the price he had to pay for the pleasure. He hated the Vice President for planting the doubt in him as he watched her twitch under the sheets and waited impatiently for her to call the name again.

Tom or John? What had she said? Who did she want? Tom filled with frustration. Should he demand an answer?

When she continued to moan in her sleep, he felt compelled to wake her from the disturbed dream. With a little shake and a murmur of her name, Tom urged her to wake up.

Cadence's eyes opened wearily, blurred and sullied with sleep in the corners. Confused as to where she was and what was going on, she half-bolted up from the bed in a tangle of sheets, turning to Tom with wide eyes. “What?” She let out a groan of pain as her head pounded with the sudden movement. “Tom...” She glanced down at her attire and frowned at the Republican endorsing t-shirt. “Well this is cute,” she murmured sardonically as she reached up a hand to clutch the back of her skull.

A grin slipped out before Tom could help it. She was a mess of tangled hair and bloodshot eyes coupled with the faint odour of morning sweat and alcohol and yet he still felt that strong, sometimes inexplicable attraction to her he always did.

“You looked like you were having a bad dream,” Tom explained.

Cadence rubbed her brow and continued to groan. “Yeah.” She fell silent as she contemplated the dream and tensed slightly.

Tom watched as her free hand drifted up to clutch at her right side where an odd T shaped scar lingered. He didn't even think she knew she was doing it.

“Colombia?” he ventured a guess quietly.

Cadence froze up and stared back at him with a haunted gaze.

Tom forgot his own concerns briefly as he took in her stare, she was too young to have such a weighted fear in her eyes. He leaned over to close the gap between them, reaching to pull her against him in a gentle hug.

Cadence pressed the side of her head against Tom's chest and closed her eyes. Her head was pounding, her throat dry and her eyes felt heavy and sore. She just wanted to curl up and sleep some more, to push away the fact that it was Christmas Day and she had a long day ahead of her.

Figuring Tom deserved a little better as she recalled a vague memory of announcing that she had vomited on his steps, Cadence attempted to waken herself up a bit better.

Tom smiled when he felt her hand slid down his chest before reaching over the band of his boxers.

“Cady,” he said softly, “I hate to interrupt, really I do, but I'm a little concerned you're trying to change the subject here.”

Tom tensed slightly as Cadence took a grasp of his member and slid her hand gently up and down it.

“Why would you think that?” she quipped lightly.

Tom gave a quiet chuckle at this even as he continued to tense in her tender grasp as he felt himself grow hard. “Cady,” he groaned out her name as he closed his eyes momentarily and shook his head. “Come on now, you do this to avoid talking about things.”

“What?” she queried in annoyance.

Tom opened his eyes and found her grey-blue stare fixed upon him with a fierce scorn.

“I don't mean always,” he protested, “but come on, I mentioned Colombia in Chicago and we had sex, I mention it here and well...”

“I mention your family and go for your pants and you don't stop me,” Cadence accused as she withdrew her hand at last and pulled back from him.

Tom winced at her accusation and frowned as he felt the familiar burn in his nostrils that signalled an oncoming nosebleed. “Cady...” Tom trailed off and sighed as he looked at her sympathetically. “You're right, I'm sorry. I seek the distractions as well and it's Christmas Day, it's not fair for me to try and force some sort of therapeutic confession from you.”

Tom pinched his nose and smiled at her. “Cady, I very much want to be with you but I don't want to be just a distraction.” He fell silent again thinking that there was more he wanted to say. That he didn't want to be the distraction because she couldn't have the Vice President, that his real fear was that he was the consolation prize, the man to annoy her old lover and get a rise from him. Was that it? Was she dating Tom to annoy John rather than Leo? Tom wondered grimly if he would drive himself mad with these thoughts. He knew he wasn't being fair, to him or to her.

Cadence blinked in confusion as she tried to figure out what Tom meant. Her memories of last night were fuzzy and her skull was pounding so fiercely it was difficult to focus on what was going on.

“Tom, what are you talking about? If I didn't want to date you I wouldn't, I don't use people,” she snapped at him as she folded her arms. The defensive gesture was ruined quickly when she had to raise a hand to her pounding head in a failed gesture to soothe the pain.

Tom turned away as he felt a damp trickle slip out of his nostrils. He searched his bedside cabinet for a tissue and found a crumpled one near the clock. He grasped at it and pushed it up to his nose. He used the moment to compose his thoughts without having to look at her. He had two choices- tell her what John had told him or try and pretend it had never happened, at least until John brought up again. Tom didn't know if the Vice President would mention the matter again but he still didn't know why John had said it in the first place.

Tom turned back to the young woman with a wary stare as he lowered the tissue.

“John Hoynes,” Tom said the name calmly. The man had taunted and humiliated him at work and then added another final, mocking blow with his revelation of being with Cadence. Thinking she might have called for him in her sleep was too much for Tom. He knew he couldn't compete with the man if it was more than physical.

Cadence continued to look baffled as she stared back at Tom. “I don't understand...” She shook her head in helpless confusion.

“He told me,” Tom explained wearily suddenly feeling tired again. A bitterness overcame him as he felt the blood run down his face streaking it red. He was hungover as well, tired, sore and thoroughly fed up with how things had gone for him the past couple of days.

“He enjoyed telling me how he fucked you,” Tom snapped as his anger finally came through. His blue eyes chilled Cadence with the sudden cold anger in them. “I wanted to forget it, damn it I did but it's driving me crazy Cady wondering what the hell there is between you two. I can't be second best to a married man!”

Cadence shrank back from Tom's accusations, upset and alarmed she didn't even know which emotion to settle on. She could hear her heart pounding, the sound was almost deafening in her ears and added to the constant pangs in her head. Shock flooded through her. The idea that John would have told anyone about their relationship was astonishing in itself but the fact that he had chosen Tom for his confessor beggared disbelief.

“Tom-” she attempted a protest but it faded before she could conclude it.

Cadence's head pounded harder as a flurry of confused thoughts jumbled through it. She didn't know what to say or even what to think. When and why had John told him?

“No.” Tom got out of the bed as he felt his anger threaten to overwhelm him. Why had he asked her about it? What did he think she would say? Could say?

“He's married God damn it, why the hell would you have ever let that happen?” The accusation was out before Tom could help it as disgust filled his blue stare.

Tom shook his head and headed to the bedroom door, opening it swiftly to escape before Cadence could respond. He had noticed the damp glint in her eyes as his gaze had condemned her and he knew that if she started to cry he might weaken and embrace her and he couldn't do that. He had thought he could hear her out but he didn't want to hear her explanation, he feared it would be lies and what could she say anyway? John had been married and still was, if his marriage didn't bother her why should her status of having a boyfriend matter? Tom felt a roll of nausea and couldn't decide if it was connected to his late night drinking, his nosebleed or the current conversation.

Tom's eyes widened as they met the sheepish faced Josh standing in the hallway.

“I...I was trying to leave,” Josh said awkwardly as he gestured pointlessly behind him with both hands to the waiting staircase.

Tom nodded weakly as he dabbed at his nose, stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him. “I should have listened to your warnings,” he murmured. He gave Josh a frosty stare and quipped acerbically, “are you going to pretend you didn't hear any of that?”

Josh looked back at Tom with fatigue and a practised calm. He looked a little worse for wear, last night's clothes were sitting dishevelled on him, his jacket was open, his shirt wrinkled and bunched at his shoulders and his belt unbuckled. His curls were a mass of entangled waves and his skin was wan as he too fought against the punishing morning headache of a night too well celebrated with drink.

“It's Christmas Day,” Josh reminded him. “I think for everyone's sake I'm just going to pretend I wasn't here.”

Tom's lip curled up in disgust. “You Democrats do love the dirty secrets,” he said bitterly.

Josh reached a hand up to his brow, trying to push back the pain budding there. “Tom, I get you're mad but I don't want to be involved and I...” He lowered his hand and met Tom's icy gaze. “I actually don't want to fall out with you over this,” he admitted. “You're a good guy Tom, last night was...fun.” It was awkward to say and Josh knew his timing was terrible. Tom didn't give a damn about a night out drowning his sorrows with an acquaintance, he was reeling from a bombshell revelation about his girlfriend that Josh most definitely was not touching.

Josh had been just as shocked as Cadence when he had heard Tom yell that John had told him about the affair and even as he didn't want to think about it he was thinking about it. Was John so bold, so desperate to rub salt in the wound he'd caused Tom in the House? Josh didn't think so, John could be a bastard, no mistake, but to risk his own reputation on a vindictive move like that, that was just a little too personal. Josh wondered if John was simply jealous of Tom and determined that he should have what he couldn't- Cadence.

Josh tensed as he heard Cadence's soft sobs through the door as she tried and failed to stop them. He shouldn't feel pity for her but for some reason it was all he felt this morning.

“Tom...” Josh held up a hand, gesturing towards the door before he let it fall by his side again. He was not getting involved, he was not. “Nevermind,” he muttered quietly. 

Josh turned for the staircase and hurried off.

Tom stood where he was, exhausted, angry and upset. He didn't know what to do now. He was terrified to go back in and face Cadence, fearful that her tears would weaken his resolve but how could he forgive her for loving another man? Was it even love? Was she still in love with him? If she wasn't then was he being fair? She was entitled to a past. Had he overreacted? Had he even heard her say John in her sleep? Tom winced as he reached a hand up to his dark hair and found it stiff with dried in gel. Damn it, he couldn't be sure, she could have called for Tom and he had let the paranoia that had gnawed at him all night finally get the better of him.

Tom swallowed hard before he turned back to the bedroom door.

Tom headed back into his bedroom, continuing to dab at his nose as he stepped back to the bedside and gazed down at the young woman in guilty apology.

“Cady I don't want or need to know what happened between you and him, that's not my business,” he said with a forced calm. “Just tell me, is it over? Are you done with him?”

Cadence stared up at Tom in surprise as she rubbed at her tear stains with the back of her hand. “I'm not like that,” she snapped viciously as her eyes narrowed into a glare. “I get it, you've decided I'm a whore now, a homewrecker, a tramp, all that!” She shuddered slightly and her hands embraced her torso loosely, her left hand reaching round her stomach for the unseen scar again. “If I fucked a married man,” she snarled savagely, “then of course I must be cheating on my boyfriend as well. Well fuck you and your judgement Tom!”

“Hey!” he protested angrily as he glowered down at her and held his hands up in protest. “That is not what I meant!”

Tom realised it was a lie even as he shouted it. Of course it was what he meant. “I just want to know if you still have feelings for him,” he insisted. “I'm entitled to know that much,” he added defensively. “He is married, that's right, so you can't exactly date him and he makes a point of telling me that he...” Tom couldn't say it again so he awkwardly switched the word. “That he slept with you, so I have to wonder are you dating me because you can't date him? Am I just the runner up here?”

“You make it sound like it's a contest,” Cadence dismissed his questions with an irate answer.

She slackened her hands by her side and stood up from the bed. “Tom, I wasn't with him when you asked me out and I thought only of dating you when I said yes. It wasn't about getting back at my dad and the president or some fling for a distraction or anything else you've accused me of. I just thought, finally a nice guy to date,” she said miserably, “someone who wasn't going to use me or lie to me or make a dirty secret of me. Someone who just wanted to date me, uncomplicated, no deception and that's what I wanted. Just a nice, sincere, happy relationship but Tom, if I'm making you unhappy and paranoid then, there's no point.”  
Cadence shrugged before she bent down to reached for her dress which lay in a pool of silver sequins on the floor.

Tom watched quietly as Cadence turned away from him to slip off the t-shirt. He felt numb as he stared at her, wondering how many times the Vice President had looked at her naked form and touched it.

Tom didn't offer a protest when Cadence was dressed and walked past him for the door. There was just a hushed, blunt murmur from her that she'd need a taxi and a nod from Tom in answer. She hadn't answered his question after all- did she still have feelings for John Hoynes?

\----

It was just after one when Cadence arrived at her father's hotel. She had been ready to head up to his room and was surprised when she met him in the lobby.

“Cadence, late as ever,” he scolded her as he glanced at his watch.

“Only by ten minutes,” she protested as she stared back at him, wondering why he was wearing a long, black, woollen coat. “Are you going somewhere?” she pried.

“We are,” Leo retorted, purposely vague. “Of course you're not dressed for much travelling, Cady it's freezing out there, what happened to your coat?”

“I left it at home,” she retorted quietly.  
Despite the absence of a coat, Cadence had made a valiant effort for the day. She was wearing a soft, crimson jumper and a pleated black skirt coupled with black, woollen tights and a pair of sparkling red shoes. Her hair was down, styled in loose waves, she had bronzer at her cheeks and heavy concealer to hide the bags under her eyes and a dusting of gold eyeshadow to banish the purple shade of her eyelids. There was little to indicate how troubled her morning had been.

“So, where are we going?” Cadence demanded.

Leo started walking, pausing to place a hand about her daughter's shoulders and turn her back to the main entrance.

“Dad,” she pried suspiciously as she arched her eyebrows slightly.

Leo smiled at her, drawing her to a halt as they stepped outside again. He drew her into a quick hug and murmured, “Merry Christmas sweetheart and thank you for spending it with me.”

Cadence hugged him back, surprised as her mouth quivered and a lump formed momentarily in her throat before she banished it for a smile. She certainly wasn't feeling festive but determined that she would just forget the morning and make herself enjoy the day for her father's sake.

“Merry Christmas dad,” she replied cheerfully.

As they broke, a black limousine pulled up and Leo directed his daughter towards it.

“Um what's with the secrecy?” Cadence quipped her father herded her towards the car. She glanced to the man who had opened the door for her, a perfectly stoic faced, black and white suited guard. “Do you know where we're going?” she demanded.

“Cadence just get in, it's freezing,” Leo chided her.

Cadence obeyed, slipping down to a soft, leather seat, appreciating the warmth of the car despite her suspicions.

Leo took a seat opposite his daughter and waited for the door to shut and the car to start moving before he spoke.

“We got an invite to lunch,” Leo explained.

Cadence stared back at her father with a slight frown, knowing his vagueness was deliberate. “By whom?” she demanded.

Leo cracked a smile at this. “Whom, oh very good,” he murmured sardonically with a nod, “glad those elocution lessons you got finally paid off.”

“Dad,” Cadence said sternly as her frown deepened.

Leo's smile widened even as he waved off her scorn. “Alright, by Jed and Abbey.”

“What?!” Cadence shrieked out her shock before she could help it.

“Well don't sound too pleased!” Leo retorted even as his blue eyes sparkled with mirth. “They invited us a week ago,” he admitted, “but I knew you'd find an excuse not to go, so I kept quiet about it. I mean it's a wonderful thing for them to do and Zoey is going.”

“And Ellie,” Cadence said flatly as she folded her arms and directed her gaze to the tinted windows.

“Yes Ellie,” Leo admitted, “although I'm not sure how you know that.”

“She was at Zoey's last night,” Cadence confessed. That she remembered, some of it was a little foggy but she knew it had not been good and that Ellie had not enjoyed seeing Cadence again. Robbie had been mentioned as well, Cadence remembered that too but she couldn't recall the details and supposed she didn't want to.

“Ah. Well, it's been years since you two have really seen each other and you were once so close. You must miss her.”

“She didn't miss me,” Cadence responded bluntly.

“You only think that,” Leo scorned softly. “Anyway, it's going to be a lovely lunch so you can make amends.”

“It's going to be a long lunch,” Cadence corrected moodily as she continued to frown.

Leo shook his head. “God it's just like when you were kids and complaining because we had to see your grandparents. You're an adult now Cady, don't huff.”

Cadence resisted the urge to pull a face at her father. First Tom, now Ellie or had it been Ellie then Tom? Cadence was confused. She figured bitterly that Ellie might give her a good distraction at least. She was still shocked by Tom's revelation and anytime her mind wandered back to it her stomach squirmed and she felt an urge to throw up. A large part of her wanted to get on the phone to John and start screaming at him for an explanation, Christmas or not, but that was irrational and she knew it was also risky and foolish and she was unlikely to get hold of him anyway. She wanted to talk to Tom again too but she didn't know what she could or should say to him.

The drive to the White House passed in silence. Cadence kept her arms folded as she tried not to think about the day.

Leo watched his daughter, wondering what was on her mind this time and hoping that she and Ellie would come to some sort of peace today. They had always been close growing up, easy given they were of the same age, but then the old cliché of a boy between two girls had happened and the friendship was fractured and then the boy they had both loved so dearly had died and no one really knew how to repair the damage left from it.

When they arrived at the White House and passed through the expected security, they were greeted by a delighted Abbey who offered them merry sentiments coupled with light hearted hugs and kisses. There was only a slight sense of fond familiarity as the family occupied the table for their starter. The surroundings were not the grand, oak table of the Bartlet country home or the modern furnished,, long, polished mahogany table of the Chicago town house but instead it was the borrowed dining room of the White House. A room glorious, beautiful and full of so much history that it had become impersonal. The decorations came from a choice of approved selections, there was no chance of going off the grid and putting up the tacky snowflakes of gold and silver that the girls had tangled up over many years or the multi-coloured fairy lights that clashed with everything. The setting was festive yes but in an orderly fashion, there was no sloppiness to the décor and no suggestion of baubles and beads hung with love rather than by design.

The food was the same- exquisite and expensive, cooked by some five star chef who stayed unseen in the kitchen. It wasn't Abbey's beautifully cooked turkey with Jenny's butter laden mash and the always ever so slightly charred biscuits that Zoey and Cadence had attempted.

Ellie sat at the table as a modest daughter under silent protest. Her outfit was plain, in shades of brown it looked better suited for an office than a Christmas Day's lunch. She smiled sincerely for her sister and parents and showed an honest fondness for Leo but to Cadence she was coolly polite and indifferent.

Liz, Mallory and Jenny's absences were notable and Cadence was surprised by the pain she felt from experiencing her first real Christmas without both her sister and mother. Sure she'd avoided the past two but that had been an avoidance across the board with everyone, this was different. Jenny's absence in particular felt too permanent and it made Cadence sorrowful and reaching for the sparkling wine all too eagerly.

When a break came in the courses, Zoey was quick to get Cadence alone in a corner of a sitting room whilst Jed and Leo departed to discuss some pressing matters.

“So, you got home safe last night then?” Zoey quipped with a put on accusing stare. She raised her hands to her hips and tried to mimic her father's look of scorn.

Cadence smiled back at Zoey and nodded. Telling her the truth would mean questions about Tom and returning to the memory of him asking her about John.

“Yes, sorry I darted out earlier, couldn't stand the cheese of young love,” she joked.

Zoey's smile widened as her stance slackened. “I feel bad about that you know,” she confessed. “I mean Charlie was a last minute invitation and Tom didn't show-”

“It's okay,” Cadence interrupted before the inevitable question about Tom's whereabouts could come. “Honestly, I didn't mind.”

Zoey looked unconvinced. She glanced over her shoulder to Ellie sitting with her mother discussing college before turning her attention back to Cadence. “Well I want to make up for it,” she insisted. “I'm going to see a Christmas light show with a few girls from college tonight and I want you to come.”

Cadence considered a protest even as she wondered how Jed felt about the affair. For a normal student sure it sounded fun but for the President's daughter it seemed risky. “I don't know,” Cadence murmured.

“It's exclusive, tickets only,” Zoey enthused, “but we have a couple spare, come on Cady cat you know something that's ticket only is usually good.”

Cadence grinned and shook her head. “Ah so I'm a fill the numbers offer then B.B?” she queried mockingly. Seeing Zoey's stare become worried prompted a laugh. “I'm kidding B.B.”

“Please come, I want a girls' night with you and it is Christmas,” Zoey insisted.

Cadence sighed. “Ah there it is, the infamous 'because it's Christmas.' Well alright then, since it's Christmas.”

Cadence shrugged and finished the dregs in her champagne flute.

“How can you still drink?” Zoey marvelled as she looked to the glass. Although she tried to sound disapproving her gaze suggested envy and curiosity.

“Because I'm a masochist,” Cadence retorted cheerfully. “It's also why I keep subjecting myself to never ending dinners.”

Zoey giggled at this and followed after Cadence as she headed for Ellie and Abbey. It was a bold move but the alcohol gave Cadence courage and she knew she had to make an effort. Truthfully she wanted to make an effort, seeing Ellie was painful but Cadence had missed her.

Ellie looked up at Cadence impassively before turning a smile to Zoey.

“Ladies, how are we finding the food?” Abbey queried.

“Lovely,” Zoey assured.

“Delightful,” Cadence chirped up, “but I definitely can't have anymore turkey.”

Ellie refrained from commenting and was stern faced as Abbey and Zoey laughed. She looked relieved when Jed and Leo returned.


	45. Festive Fun

John Hoynes was stoic faced as he was interrupted. Although part of him appreciated the interruption the fact that it had come on Christmas Day made him a little apprehensive. He was in the Naval Observatory playing host to his children and a few 'close political friends' of his wife's choosing. It was a farce and John didn't know whether to be grimly amused or annoyed by the display his wife had put on. The entire building was decked out for the season, a pointless and vulgar show of their wealth as naturally the decorations were designer, on show for the month and showcased in every article Suzanne could manage before she packed them up, never to be reused because Suzanne would never be accused of repeating a style. Then there was the help, the employed staffers of the Vice President's domain roped in to work on Christmas Day of all days to assist with the cooking, the serving of the dishes and showing up a general presence of management in the household. Add John's ever present Secret Service guard and the idea of an intimate Christmas together with family had gone right out the window.

“It's a phone call for you sir,” the woman explained politely as she approached John in his seat by the fireplace. “Work.” Her voice was hushed as if she was fearful of disclosing something important.

John arched his dark eyebrows at this as he tried to think of the woman's name, hell he wasn't even sure of her exact job title. Well it couldn't be anyone in his team ringing, they knew better so that left Jed's. Had something happened? He couldn't recall seeing anything on the news the few times he'd glimpsed it but maybe it hadn't gotten that far.

John nodded as he stood. “I'll take it in the study.”

Ignoring his wife's look of ire, John excused himself politely from the room of quiet drinks, gossip and a muted show of some Christmas movie on the television. The day was done, it was coming up to half nine in the evening and his patience for everyone to leave was wearing thin. The morning had been nice, he'd admit to that, Suzanne had been merry and eager to play the doting wife and had given him an early gift in bed. By lunch the merry mask had started to crack and the real Suzanne poked through as she spent her time performing for her friends and forwent her husband's side.

John headed into the study, frowning momentarily at the collection of pines trees on display before he closed the door tightly behind him, plucked up the phone and waited for the woman to hang up the phone she had lifted.

Every time he entered this room now he thought of making love to Cadence on the soft, cream carpet before a roaring fire. He was bitter that he only had one memory of her here, he had thought the sex pleasurable enough to earn a second attempt but despite his best efforts Cadence had shut him down.

“Vice President Hoynes,” John said coolly, letting his tone make it clear that he was irked at the disturbance.

“Oh to hell with you and that title,” Cadence's drunk slurs answered. “You're just John tonight. John the relationship fucker upper.”

“What?” John was too baffled to be angry at the cursing. He pulled a puzzled face at the receiver as it took a moment for him to realise just who was yelling at him.

“Why did you do it?” she demanded unhappily. “Why did you wreck everything with me and Tom? What is it,” she hiccuped, “you're unhappy so I have to be too? It wasn't fair of you, it wasn't! I was happy damn it! Do you get that?” Another hiccup. “Damn do you care? I want to be with Tom,” a sob slipped out with the next hiccup, “and he looked at me like a whore. Your whore,” she hissed out hatefully.

John finally realised what Cadence was talking about. He was calm as he answered her even as concern crept up him. “Cady you're drunk, where are you?” John glanced at his watch. “It's only half nine.”

“Oh whatever,” she snapped. “I'm alone, isn't that what you care about? What you wanted?” she demanded savagely. “You told him about us, Christ John why?” Another sob escaped her. “I can't be with you so I can't be with him either? I couldn't keep Robbie or Benny. Am I meant to be alone?” She giggled this time but the bitter manner of it set John's teeth on edge.

“Cadence where are you?” he demanded in a serious tone as he cradled the receiver close.

“Seeing some lights and faking smiles. It's all fake in this world. I wasn't gonna call, I wasn't doing this but you deserve to know what you've done. You want me miserable and alone fine, I am. Merry fucking Christmas John.”

John flinched as he heard the clatter of a receiver before the line went dead. “Damn it to hell,” he muttered a curse to himself.

John glanced at his watch again before raised a hand up to his brow to push at the budding tenseness there. Guilt and worry had filled him as he wondered where she might be in that state. He had some vague recollection of Leo talking about plans to spend Christmas Day with Cadence so he figured she was probably in D.C. What had he expected? For Landis to swallow the confession and opt for secrecy? Well no, John had just hoped the man would slink off wordlessly and leave Cadence alone, to have confronted her and on Christmas Day of all days seemed like a nasty move.

John didn't know what to do now, to involve anyone else was risky. If he contacted Leo, Leo would wonder how John could know Cadence was drunk and if John admitted Cadence had dialled him the question would be- why? John was concerned but self-preserving too and unwilling to bring that sort of risk upon himself.

He grimaced, the idea of her out there drunk and in the mental state she was in wasn't something he could ignore either.

\---

Cadence ended the call and retreated from the payphone feeling angrier that when she had started the call. Her head was starting to spin again and she just wanted to be at home yet going home meant being alone with her thoughts. She had been drinking on and off all day, thwarted by the sobering of watchful eyes as she tried to push herself closer to a numb oblivion.

She veered out of the hotel lobby and back to the ballroom for Zoey, heading back to the table Zoey sat at, determined that she was done with the bar. Her mood might be poor but she knew she had to set the example for Zoey.

“Hey Cady, Raquel says there's another light show at the fountains, let's go outside,” Zoey said brightly as she saw Cadence rejoin them.

They were at a grand hotel in the city that was playing host to a Christmas lights show. It had involved vibrant displays in both its interior and exterior including animatronics, music and timed displays. The main attraction was its garden maze but Zoey's Secret Service guards had vetoed that. They were satisfied enough with the hotel's security although it was by no means infallible, the fact that it was a hotel automatically made it a risk.

The entire affair was a huge risk as far as Jed was concerned but the hotel was local, reputable and close. The guests and ticket holders were run through fast paced computer checks only the Secret Service and the likes of the F.B.I and C.I.A could possibly have access to and the conclusion was that the general guests tonight were of a high calibre with worthy reputations.

A strict curfew had been set anyway with the promise of hourly call-ins from the Secret Service to base. Zoey wanted normality with her friends but Jed was only willing to bend so far. Although he wouldn't say it when Zoey had informed him that Cadence was accompanying her, he had considered quietly that Cadence presented an additional risk since no one was entirely sure if she bore anymore risk from Colombia because no one was entirely sure what had happened to her there.

Knowing how important the evening was to Zoey, Cadence shrugged off grief and fixed on a bright smile for the youngest Bartlet daughter.

“Sure Zoey, sounds good,” Cadence enthused.

Zoey's smile brightened at Cadence's response. She knew Cadence wasn't drinking to embrace the party mode of the evening. Anytime, Zoey had tried to steer the conversation towards Tom during the day, Cadence had been brief or deflective. Zoey couldn't fathom what may have happened between the pair but Cadence wasn't good enough at masking her emotions to hide the flash of grief in her eyes when Tom's name had been mentioned.

Raquel approached the table with a grin and a martini glass in hand. She was a student in one of Zoey's classes. Boisterous and bright, she boasted a slim, tanned and toned body and a flash of choppy, red streaked brunette hair. The outing had been her idea and she had been the one to obtain the tickets.

“Girls, anyone need a toilet break first? I've heard there's a good reindeer scene in the lounge room on the third floor and there are toilets there too,” she said happily.

Zoey glanced to Cadence curiously before looking about their table. “Well shouldn't we wait for Macy and Christine?” she quipped.

Raquel waved off Zoey's query. “Don't worry, I told them we were heading for the fountains, they'll meet us there.”

“Well I could use the toilet,” Zoey confessed.

“What about you Cadence?” Raquel quipped as her brown gaze darted over to the older woman. “You coming with? If you don't need the toilet we can meet you at the fountains too.” She gestured to the patio doors with one hand. “They're just out through there and to the left, you follow the snowflake lights. Unless you want to see some flashy reindeer,” she added with a smile.

Cadence glanced to the patio doors. She wasn't all that eager to go through crowds for three floors to join queues for the light displays and toilets but she didn't want to have Zoey too far from her. Secret Service or not, Cadence worried not for threats of terrorists but the more common sort that prayed on young college girls- the predators with wandering hands and dosed drinks.

“I'll come with,” Cadence said.

The women headed off, accompanied by a group of bodyguards attempting the impossible task of blending in with the the guests without losing their target. They didn't want to draw attention to Zoey otherwise the party goers might look closely at her, recognise her and draw more unwanted attention to her. Yet if they hung too far back they might lose her in the crowds and that would unforgivable.

Raquel hurried them along, babbling happily about reindeer and promising that the fountain display would be worth seeing. She chattered quickly, barely pausing for breath or giving Cadence or Zoey a chance to retort. They became so caught up in conversation that neither Zoey nor Cadence even noticed she hastened them into an elevator unaccompanied until the doors were already shut and it was halfway up to the first floor.

Cadence frowned. “We'll have to wait when we get out here,” she cautioned.

“What do you mean?” Raquel queried with a puzzled glance.

Cadence blinked and rubbed at her eyes to ease the blurriness at the edges. Raquel was standing at the doors, slightly at an angle so her back was to the buttons. Cadence didn't know why but the positioning bothered her.

“For Zoey's friends,” Cadence retorted calmly, her voice barely audible over the merry Christmas music coming through the speakers.

Zoey looked startled at this and flushed slightly as only with Cadence's words did she realise her mistake. She could envision the guards cursing at the closed elevator doors and charging up the stairs probably pushing people out of the way and making it all too obvious that they were bodyguards.

“They know we're going to the fountain,” Raquel insisted as the elevator passed the first floor.

Cadence shook her head, wincing as she felt a slight pounding at the back of her skull. “Not those friends.”

Raquel flashed a smile and looked to Zoey. “Well if you have to but honestly Zoey, the hotel is full of security, it's perfectly safe.”

Cadence continued to frown, certain there was something she was missing. Something that might be clearer if her head wasn't so fogged with alcohol. Her eyes darted up to the lights at the top indicating the floors but it was a blur that made her head ache. She thought she glimpsed a two.

\---

The frantic call came through just after eleven. Everything after that happened in a wild, chaotic fashion. No one had expected it and though many had practised for it still the panicked uncertainty came. There was a scramble for action, to get those that needed informed, reached ASAP, which was no easy task given it was the later hours of Christmas Day, and to try and keep it sealed up from everyone else.

Josh Lyman was awake when he got the call, sitting in his living room trying to ignore what had been a long day, dull save for the events of the morning. He had been contemplating sleep and when he answered the phone he half-wondered if he was having a dream.

“Josh, Zoey and Cadence are missing,” it was Leo, frantic as he addressed his second, professionalism lost for the fears of a father, “and two Secret Service agents have been murdered!”

“I'll be right there,” Josh stammered out an answer as he tried to digest the news.

Leo ended the call immediately whilst Josh puzzled over what had happened. He had a hundred questions to ask and didn't even know where to start. He just made himself move, called for a car and then called Toby to give him the news. Toby was mercifully at home although he didn't answer until the fifth ring. He'd been a sleep, trying to put a day of cliches behind him and he was no more ready for the shocking news than Josh had been.

The trip to the West Wing was a blur for Josh. It wasn't just another day at the office or even one of the uncommon but not rare night shift calls, the kind that came when the threat of war came during the night as soldiers had been killed overseas or submarines had gone missing and everyone was in a frantic rush to tried and sort it before sun up came to America because no one wanted the morning papers to read 'War on the Horizon'.

The sky was heavy with the black that only came on a winter's night, there was a cold mist to the air and hidden patches on ice on the roads and pavements. The music and fanfare had settled, dinners had ended, celebratory drinks been put away and most of this side of the continent that made up the United States of America were asleep or heading towards it, drifted off on full stomachs carried to happy dreams on that rush of magical merriment that came with the festive season. Toby was right, it was a cliché, sickening at times, overdone certainly and commercialised to the point of the meaning almost being lost but on the other side of the coin the warmth, happiness and love shared for the day was a thing to be envied as well. Family time, Josh hadn't had enough of it before tragedy had taken his sister away and turned his household grim. No holiday or weekend gathering had ever been the same since, her absence was always noticeable no matter how many years crept by.

Josh didn't want to think so negatively given the circumstances but as he headed through an increased security at the White House, negative thoughts and puzzlement were all he had. When Toby arrived with his own doom and gloom fifteen minutes later, Josh's feelings of concern only grew.

“Well, what have you learned?” Toby snapped at him as he paced into the eerily quiet West Wing offices where he had been advised Josh was. “Why aren't you with them?”

Josh glanced over at Toby numbly. He had headed for the Oval Office but it was absent as was Leo's office. They were in the Situation Room as if plotting war.

“I can't get to them,” Josh confessed, “they're in the Situation Room. I don't know who's in there, no one's around to ask. I haven't even located Charlie yet.”

Toby looked a little surprised at this revelation and it was obvious he hadn't thought of Charlie until now. “He was spending the day with his sister,” he said quietly.

“Oh.” Josh looked surprised too. So often Charlie was at the President's side to the point of being his wake up call and the last person to attend him at night unless the First Lady was in residence that Josh hadn't considered that Charlie might not even be in the White House tonight.

Josh glanced around their surroundings. Dark offices with the blackness of the night pushing against the windows threatening to swallow them up. The lights of the hall they lingered in barely seemed to guard them from the night time shadows and he wondered if Zoey and Cadence were out in the icy dark somewhere.

“I don't even know where they were,” Josh admitted tiredly, “or why they were together.” He turned a helpless stare over to Toby, needing the more serious man to take charge for a change. “Do you?”

Toby shook his head dismissively. “No, look we need to call Sam and C.J, we need to prepare.”

“Prepare for what?” Josh snapped.

Toby jerked his hands down sharply. “For the news,” Toby snapped, “it'll leak, there are sirens all over the city, people will have noticed. I passed police trucks, it's not just the normal cars, people will wonder if there's a bomb scare somewhere.”

Josh marvelled back at his colleague. “We need more information.”

“Well they can help with that, maybe,” Toby grumbled as he didn't think C.J or Sam would be able to get information about the situation any better than they could. Toby raised a hand to his chin before dragging it down his beard as he frowned. “Who knows about this?”

“You, me,” Josh retorted. “Do you think...I mean should Mallory or Jenny know?” His voice grew quiet as he shrugged uneasily. “I don't...I don't know if Leo's told them. Or if Liz knows but they are bound to have secured her just in case. And...” Josh frowned as he considered the next person and wondered how he would deal with the news given this morning's events. “Tom.”

“You can't tell him,” Toby dismissed the idea sharply, “we've no facts yet, it just causes chaos and it's risky telling too many people, that's how the press gets wind of things!”

Josh was slightly taken back by Toby's snapped dismissal. “He's her boyfriend,” Josh defended. He didn't bother to add the 'maybe', Toby certainly didn't need to know that. “He might know something's wrong anyway if he's been trying to reach her.”

“Well the Secret Service or police or whoever the hell deals with these matters can ask him that when they get to it, when he last spoke to her and all the rest of it.”

“And the Vice President, he's going to need told,” Josh murmured. He wondered just how John would react to the revelation.

Toby nodded with a frown. “Yes, with Zoey involved we might...well hopefully not.” Toby couldn't even voice his fears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm hard to believe I started this fic over a year ago but here we are. I've had this plot line in mind for a few months now, I'm hoping it will actually signal the start of the end of this fic with a sequel in mind, since I've barely even gotten into Season 2 timeline wise and I'd love to have Amy, Ainsley and Jeff appear in the fic and definitely focus on drama of Jed re-running but more from a Hoynes P.O.V. Anyway, that's assuming this latest curve in the plot goes to plan and is received.  
It took me ages working this one out, I went through so many scenarios but no matter what it's unrealistic, when it happened to Zoey on the show it was unrealistic considering the Secret Service presence but for the sake of plot I had to bend the realism and hey I've done that through a lot of the fic I'm sure.


	46. Taken

C.J took a deep breath as she readied herself to enter the Press Room. There were plenty of days when she had felt unease before entering this room. At the start of her career here just approaching the door had caused her to fill with dread especially when she then had to watch herself on replays on television getting torn apart as 'inexperienced' and 'unqualified' by ruthless journalists judging the new leadership and its employees. Today she was almost sick with worry for people she actually knew- for Zoey and her parents and for Cadence and Leo. She didn't know Cadence well but given how the year had gone for her, C.J was deeply concerned that Leo really couldn't take anymore stress over his youngest. She knew Margaret already had him on watch, anxious that he might go for the bottle or the pills to try and escape the surreal horror if even for a moment.

Two fathers caught up in grief and fear, that in itself was bad enough but these were two of the most powerful men in the country. C.J was terrified to consider what might happen if they lost their stability to do their jobs in all this. She knew John Hoynes was standing by except she hadn't seen him. He was in the West Wing instead of the Eisenhower and there were rumours slipping out that he wasn't demonstrating the calm and inappropriate smug hope for power that had been expected from him but instead was barking orders at exhausted F.B.I agents to do more and showing a streak of ill-controlled rage that was a little unexpected.

C.J didn't know what they were going to do if the Vice President didn't get it together. She knew his people had been summoned, Cal and Gavin were in the West Wing too, an image she didn't want publicised. It would look like the Vice President's party was already taking over and before the morning was done it would be round that the President wasn't fit to lead in his current state of mind and then the story of Zoey and Cadence's predicament would be out there for the world to devour. The White House Press Secretary couldn't begin to imagine the chaos that would follow if people though the V.P wasn't fit to lead either.

She braced herself and reached for the door.

“C.J stop!”

She turned at the cry and looked with wide eyes to the running Toby who had one hand raised as if to wave. She attempted to read his expression as he rushed towards her, worried that worse news might be upon them.

With a pant, Toby halted, doubling over with his palms on his thighs as he tried to catch a breath.

“Did you do you a marathon here? What's happened?” C.J snapped at him impatiently with wide eyes.

Toby heaved out another pant. “She's been found, Zoey's been found,” he explained breathlessly.

C.J's mouth parted a fraction as she waited for more but Toby seemed focused on catching his breath. “Alive?!” she demanded. “Is she okay? What about Cady?”

Toby raised his hand again to halt her questions before he finally stood upright. “She's alive, they found her in the hotel. The F.B.I were investigating the area, they went into a room they thought might have been part of the scene and found Zoey in a wardrobe.”

“What?” C.J was baffled. Sure the news was good but it only raised more questions. “So she never left? But aren't two agents dead? I don't understand, surely they weren't so incompetent not to look in a wardrobe? And where is Cady?”

Toby gestured his palm forward. “Give me a minute!” he snapped angrily.

Angry at the best of times, Toby was now feeling the effects of little sleep, stress from uncertainty and an odd but unpleasant adrenaline rush that came from this sudden, good yet curious news. There was a slight relief in his dark blue eyes but the burden was not gone for him only lightened.

“I don't know much,” he grumbled. “The President and the First Lady are away to meet Zoey, I think she's unharmed. No one mentioned Cadence.”

C.J frowned at this and her blue gaze filled with dismay. “Did no one ask? Leo must be worried sick.”

“Josh is with him,” Toby muttered. “Look, when I know more I'll tell you but for now, you just tell the press there was a serious incident involving some F.B.I agents at the Ralley Hotel.”

C.J's shock returned at Toby's vague statement. “Toby come on, they'll want more than that.”  
“Well we can't give it to them,” he retorted crossly. “It's a security risk.”

“Because Cady isn't secure,” C.J murmured, “and whoever caused this wanted Zoey.”

Toby nodded.

“And they're going to be pissed Zoey is safe,” C.J realised as she looked to Toby fearfully.

Toby nodded again but this time he managed a more sombre stare. “Just tell the press what I told you,” he insisted, “and if they ask for more, it's no comment. Ron will give a statement later.”

“Can I tell them that?” C.J quipped. “That Ron will give a statement later?”  
“Yeah,” Toby retorted. “Now, I'm going to speak with Hoynes and update him.”

C.J raised her hands to her hips slightly and glanced down at Toby curiously. “Is it true what they're saying about him?” she queried quietly. “Is he snapping at everyone and demanding the F.B.I do more about this?”

Toby frowned at the accusation. “He's in a temper, that's it. He always complains about being left out of the loop, don't make a thing out of it.” He jerked his hands down suddenly. “We don't need a thing out of it!”

C.J shrank back slightly as a nervous smile slipped out. “Alright Toby, I wasn't making a thing, calm down. I'll give the press our delightfully vague statement and hope for mercy.” Her expression turned serious again as she reached out and gripped his left arm lightly. “Let me know more as soon as you do.”

Toby nodded again. “I will.”

Toby pulled away leaving C.J to enter the pit of ravenous journalists who knew enough to know that a huge story was on the horizon. She felt only a slight spark of happiness with Toby's news, there was still too much uncertainty for true joy.

C.J missed Danny's serious, probing stare amongst the crowd. Despite the early hour of the day and the fact that it was Boxing Day, word had spread of the trouble in D.C, every journalist that was allowed here was present. Either no one had gone too far for the holidays or they'd put in the effort to rush back.

C.J determined that as soon as she escaped the press room she was heading straight for Leo. He would be happy to hear about Zoey but surely all the more worried for his daughter too. Had Cadence been grabbed by mistake? What price would she pay for such a colossal mistake? C.J pushed her worried wondering to one side as she entered the press room and was almost deafened by the sound of her own name being shouted excitedly over and over again.

\---

Jed's first emotion as he looked to his daughter was a joy like no other. It was so strong and so powerful it could, oddly, almost be equated with sorrow. The fear of her loss was still there for him, unrealised mercifully but it had been such a strong, dominating fear that he was almost in disbelief and doubt that his terror could now be abandoned as unfulfilled.

Abbey headed straight over to Zoey, freely crying as she rushed to embrace her scared and slightly shell-shocked daughter.

“Mom,” Zoey choked out the simple word as her mother hugged her close.

They were outside at the back of the hotel, Zoey was seated on the edge of an ambulance, a bottle of water resting to her right and a F.B.I agent's coat bundled over her.

Jed barely felt the chill of the winter's morning even as the icy air sapped his warmth from him. It was still dark, the morning had not begun proper and the sky was heavy with the blackness that only winter brought. The grounds of the hotel were full of life and lights as the red and blue of ambulances and police cars clashed with the twinkling lights of Christmas decorations in the garden. Police, F.B.I and Secret Service fought quietly for dominance as they continued to survey the scene, make notes and take photographs. There was a sense of calm to it though, as urgency slipped away and routine crept in, the worst fear had been unrealised and whilst two agents were deceased there was an unspoken acknowledgement that a rush wouldn't bring them back and it was no longer a case of every minute mattering.

Jed felt the shift in the atmosphere as a medic assured Abbey that Zoey was fine and calmly answered her prying questions, the kind of which were far more technical than most worried mothers would ask. Seeing Zoey alive and in one piece had Abbey changing from mother to doctor mode. Jed was relieved but he didn't like the calm creeping in, his daughter might be safe and well and for that he thanked God deeply but his friend's daughter was still unseen and her fate uncertain.

“Zoey what happened?” Abbey queried as she pushed back some of Zoey's dark hair and gazed down to her tenderly.

“It was Raquel,” Zoey choked out as tears ran down her face, “she took us to the third floor and there were these people waiting. We ran and there was shooting.” She sucked in a breath and gripped the metal edge of the ambulance tightly with both hands.

Jed stared at her quietly, desperate to hug and console her but afraid to interrupt her story. He lingered back in the dark feeling guilt begin to climb in him replacing the fading fear. If not for his career this would have never happened.

“We ended up downstairs in a room, a door was open I think.” Zoey shook her head with uncertainty. “I don't know mom, Cady was pulling me. She pushed me into a wardrobe, said I had to be quiet no matter what, even if she called me. It didn't make sense. Then I heard her yelling my name and...and...” Zoey shuddered and the tears fell faster. “I heard someone yelling at her and I heard them hitting her, I know they did! I should've done something, I should've went out and helped ! I didn't though, I couldn't move, I just froze!”

Zoey bowed her head and shook her rapidly as she attempted to swallow down the sobs.

“I waited and waited and I was so scared, I heard different voices but I didn't know who was there and then I heard someone say agent and mention my name.”

Zoey shook again before dissolving into sobs.

Abbey embraced her daughter, wrapping a hand about her head to draw into her chest as she made soothing noises. She glanced Jed's way, wondering if he was going to approach.

The medic murmured to Abbey, offering some soothing shot of something that would provide a calm for the girl.

Abbey mulled it over before shaking her head, knowing she could get and administer something when they were back at the White House.

Jed was confused by Zoey's story and looked back at Abbey stoically as he tried to take it in and make sense of it. He had been dominated so strongly by his panic and terror for his daughter that he just wanted to let it all go now, relax and be happy that she was safe but the guilt was gnawing at him and he knew it wasn't fair, not when Leo still had that same panic and terror in him. Yet Jed had a country to run and if he wanted to do that then he had to let it go but it was selfish to say he was okay to rule the country now that his daughter was safe even if his friend's daughter was still out there in danger somewhere.

Jed glanced about the agents and saw Ron close by, engaged with talking to an agent and yet somehow still keeping a watchful eye on Jed. He saw the agent Ron was talking to, Mike Casper, and headed towards them.

“Did Zoey speak with anyone?” Jed queried quietly as he gestured loosely to his daughter with one hand. Realising the vagueness of his question he shook his head. “I'm sorry, I mean has she told anyone what happened.”

Mike nodded. He still had a pluckiness about him despite the grave situation, finding Zoey alive and unharmed had bolstered his optimism and he operated with a sense of confidence that Cadence would be found too although he was wary as to where and in what state.

“She tried to explain but I believe she's still in shock and probably doesn't know what happened herself,” Mike answered calmly. “There's an APB out for Raquel McCandless, she's had some history of money problems, drug connected. We are working with the theory that she was approached as a classmate of Zoey's and offered money in exchange for getting Zoey here. Zoey said she's known Raquel for a while but it's only since November they've been hanging out.”

Mike offered a sympathetic smile as he saw the ire building up in Jed's eyes. “Zoey is your daughter sir,” he said softly, “it's likely Zoey assumed Raquel was just wary to approach her. They were ambushed on the third floor, Raquel got Zoey and Cadence into an elevator and away from Zoey's protection. Cadence must have sensed something was off because she had Zoey run out of the elevator immediately, which must have surprised their attackers. The floor was quiet, Raquel had told them there was a light show up there but there wasn't.”

Mike grimaced as he prepared to deliver the next news. “The girls headed for the stairs and their assailants panicked and shot, they struck Agent Myers in the head as she was coming up to rescue them. Zoey says they made it to the first floor, which was busy, there were a couple of parties going on in the rooms. Cadence got them through crowds and hid Zoey in a wardrobe in an empty room. We found the window wide open and we think, based on what Zoey told us, that Cadence probably led their attackers to believe that Zoey had in fact escaped out the window, which is why they didn't bother to check the wardrobe. It was a gamble but it worked, maybe because they panicked and were pushed for time as well.

Agent Jacobs was shot three times and killed on the first floor, there were witnesses. We have camera footage of Cadence being dragged out through a fire exit by two masked men. We have our best experts analysing the footage now. We've got them heading off in an unmarked, black Jeep and we have the police on high alert for it.”

“You keep saying attackers, who were they Agent Casper?” Jed demanded numbly.

Mike grimaced slightly. “I don't know sir,” he admitted calmly. “We're trying to find out.”

“Opportunists, local, foreign, terrorists,” Jed murmured the possibilities darkly.

He glanced over his shoulder to Zoey. He thought of Cadence's bravado and how she must be paying for it now. Would they know she was the daughter of the Chief of Staff, would they even care or would they be making her suffer because she had stopped them from getting what they had really wanted?

Jed turned a serious stare back on Agent Casper. “Finding Cadence is your top priority now,” he said solemnly.

Mike nodded back. “We will find her sir,” he reassured.

Jed turned away from the agents and headed back to his wife and still crying daughter.

“We need to get you home Zoey,” Jed addressed his daughter gently, “it's cold out here and you need rest.”

Zoey pulled back slightly from her mother to give her father a teary, terrified stare. “What about Cadence?” she demanded.

“They're looking for her,” Jed retorted.

He felt another measure of guilt as he took in Zoey and the relief flooded through him. There was a minor prickle of self-hatred as he realised how devastated he would have been had Cadence shown up alone instead. He wondered if Leo would permit him the selfish thought, if he would feel the same selfish relief if it had been Cadence to turn up instead or would Leo be ever gracious and continue to worry hysterically, not even pausing for a sliver of joy because one child was still in danger? Jed knew he had to deal with matters of the State in a couple of hours, his world had stopped for Zoey but no one else's had and now, even though Leo's world remained suspended in cruel uncertainty, Jed had to resume his duties because his daughter was safe and the rest of the country deserved his attention. Poor Cadence couldn't dominate his thoughts, to wonder at her savage fate would only impede his judgement on other matters.

“Do they know?” Zoey asked quietly. “Leo and Jenny and Mallory?”

“Yes sweetheart,” Abbey retorted as she hugged her daughter close with one hand.

“And Tom?” Zoey asked woefully.

Tom. The name was almost foreign to Jed, he had already started distancing himself from the matter and it took him a few tired seconds to remember who Tom was.

“I don't know, someone will,” Jed said. “Zoey, we need to worry about you first, it's freezing out here.”

“Dad, if something's happened to her it's my fault,” Zoey choked out.

Abbey leaned back as Jed reached down to Zoey with both hands. He gripped her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze.

“No Zoey,” he insisted, “it's not and Cadence wouldn't think that.”

“They need to find her,” Zoey sobbed out as the tears began to pour once more.

Jed nodded. “They will honey, they will.” He looked to Abbey for help.

“Come on Zoey,” Abbey said gently as she patted her daughter's back lightly and urged her to stand, “we need to get you to bed. Your father's right, you need warmed up and rest and then we'll talk.”

Abbey's glanced to Jed again, her gaze cool and her mouth in a line of disapproval.

Jed knew his wife blamed him, at least partially, for what had happened and he knew she didn't like his vagueness over the matter of Cadence but what could he do?

Zoey looked ready to protest again but she hadn't the energy. She stood glumly, causing the F.B.I jacket to slip down almost to her knees. She looked small in it and Jed was put in mind of a helpless child. His helpless child spared an atrocity only because her friend had been daringly reckless.

Jed didn't know how he was going to tell Leo what had happened.

\---

It was six in the evening and whilst the press buzzed energetically with news of terrorist plots and murders, the chaos in the West Wing had settled to an only slightly panicked lull. Zoey was safe and well and suddenly people felt a little more secure because there was no doubt about the President's leadership now and Zoey and Ellie were both secure in the White House so there were no worries about future kidnapping attempts for the moment. By all accounts the eldest daughter Liz had enough agents surrounding her home to make a small army so there was no fear of another daughter being targeted either.

Leo McGarry was the only one still on a form of high alert. He jumped every time a phone rang and when someone else answered it he hovered near them like an impatient mosquito, frantic for an update. He had slipped through the cracks when other business had taken over the day- an explosion in Iraq thought to actually be deliberate and related to an oil supply, some border bickering between China and India, and strikes in three states at home over hiked taxes on fossil fuels. Well the latter had always been coming but there was a hope they'd save the strikes for the New Year at least.

Josh and Toby had taken over with Sam and C.J supporting how they could but once the last briefing for the day was given, C.J had surrendered her duties to sit with Leo instead.

Mallory was already with him, seated beside him in his office when C.J arrived to check on them. Worried as she was, the eldest McGarry daughter was still a vision of loveliness in a cream sweater and skinny jeans. Only her eyes betrayed her woes as they were bloodshot with fatigue and bore wrinkles of worry at the corners.

Mallory glanced up when the door opened and C.J arrived with a cardboard tray offering of carry out coffee. She set the cups down on the desk and occupied the single leather seat.

“Any news?” Mallory pried with a hopeful look.

C.J gazed back at her sympathetically and shook her head. She wondered how Mallory kept it so together, she seemed calm, rigidly so and perhaps she was close enough to the edge that one more thing might shatter her but for now she was still keeping it together.

Leo on the other hand was fidgety, his wispy white hair was a mess of lopsided waves shifted numerous times by his sweaty palms. His clothes were as wrinkled as his brow and he kept squeezing his knees before folding and unfolding his arms with a frown.

“I was trying to reach Tom,” Mallory confessed. “I didn't have a number, Sam got his house one but there was no answer. He should know.”

Leo gave a grunt of displeasure. “What's he going to do?” he grumbled.

Mallory sighed as she glanced to her father with only a mild disapproval. The argument had been had a couple of times between them now and Mallory was thinking Leo just simply chose to bicker as a distraction.

“He's her boyfriend dad, for all we know he's been trying to reach her without a clue what's happened.”

C.J gave Mallory a small smile. “We'll try to reach him,” she offered. “He's a congressman, could he have gone back home to his district for the holidays?” she ventured.

Mallory shrugged. “I don't know,” she admitted quietly. “Cady never said.”

Mallory reached for one of the cups of coffee. She cradled it in both her hands, hugging it slightly as she tried to draw its warmth into her. “How many hours has it been now?” she wondered aloud. “Are there scenarios? If it's been so many hours what do they think might have happened?”

“Mallory don't,” Leo snapped as he pushed his hands through his hair. “We can't think like that, we can't!”

Mallory gave her father a cross look. “Like what dad?” she demanded. “We have to be realistic and logical about this! They wanted Zoey and they didn't get her, is Cadence their consolation prize or their mistake? Are they hurting her? Is it good we haven't heard anything yet or bad? Is there going to be a ransom? You're the Chief of Staff but you haven't said anything! Maybe if you did a speech, told them who you were and who she is to you then they might accept something for her! They might not hurt her!”

Leo turned to his daughter with a look of outrage. “Mallory we don't negotiate with terrorists!” he snapped. “Not ever!” he roared it out with a firm wave of his right hand.

C.J was surprised by the outburst and unsure what to say.

Mallory opted for rage over grief as she bit her lower lip slightly to restrain the tears and glared back at her father.

Leo paled as he fell silent and immediately turned away from Mallory.

“You'll get her killed with your silence!” Mallory snapped viciously as she stood up. “And you wonder why we call ourselves O'Briens!” She slammed the coffee cup down on the desk and stormed off to the door.

C.J watched her go silently, contemplating an intervention before she thought better of it. Mallory probably needed time to cool off and Sam was nearby, she could seek him out for comfort. C.J was here to console Leo and seeing him so quick to anger had her fearful that he might be quick to go to vices for an escape or relief.

As the Press Secretary looked to the man she didn't know what she could or should say to stop him. If he announced he was going to raid a drinks cabinet what could she really do about it? Tell on him like a child, go running to Mallory or Jed in the hopes that they would stop him? Tell him the cliché of 'it's not the answer' or something else sickening, sweet and meaningless like 'it won't help' or 'it's a temporary fix'. He wouldn't care.

“Leo, talk to me,” C.J said gently. “Yell at me, get it out there, all your frustration and fear, just let it go. I can handle it, vent to me.”

Leo gazed over at C.J and gave her a fleeting ghost of a smile before he pressed a hand to his brow and shook his head. “She's always in trouble,” he murmured, “even when she doesn't want to be, even when she's trying to do something right it's trouble. Why does it keep happening? I don't know. I just...I want my baby girl safe.”

C.J nodded sympathetically.

The door knocked and C.J glanced to it instinctively. Leo didn't bother, he was used to intrusions now, everyone coming to see how he was, just a quick thirty second glance to assure themselves that he was still sober before they hurried on to keep the world spinning for another day.

The door opened and John Hoynes' wary and unusually pale face peered in. His blue gaze became purposely tranquil as it fell on C.J and he summoned up a poker face of calm before his eyes darted over to Leo.

“Leo,” he said quietly as he stepped into the room, “I came to talk.”

There was something about the way he said it that made C.J slightly suspicious as if there was something else he wanted to say but couldn't in front of her.

“Talk,” Leo grumbled to the floor, “talking is all people keep doing right now but that doesn't get my baby safe. Imagine, I sit here, worried but comfortable and she could be getting beaten, raped, tortured.” Leo closed his eyes and shuddered slightly.

John flinched at the words before he glanced for a seat and occupied the one beside Leo that Mallory had abandoned.

“Leo, let's not think the worst,” he urged. “I know it's easy to but it's better not to, it won't do her or you any good.”

Leo opened his eyes but his gaze had gone vacant. “She's right you know. She said every time she tries to do good it goes wrong and she's punished for it and she's right about that. She was protecting Zoey and now she's paying for it.”

C.J watched the Vice President quietly, wondering why he was still lingering in the West Wing. Had he stayed just to talk to Leo? She wondered if there might be an agenda but she didn't think John would be so callous. She supposed Cadence was in his team after all and imagined he had some very real fears for the young woman too but still, he'd be better back in the Eisenhower, his lengthy presence here would create questions from the press.

Feeling the weight of John's azure gaze upon her again C.J picked up quickly that the Vice President wanted her to leave.

“I should go,” C.J said awkwardly with a weak smile.

She stood and smoothed down her beige skirt as her blue eyes darted from John to Leo.

“Please Leo, if you need anything let me know,” she insisted.

Leo ignored her whilst John gave a small smile and a nod.

C.J headed for the door, giving another uncomfortable smile as John's agents momentarily blocked her exit.

“John you should go to,” Leo said once C.J had closed the door. “I don't want to talk.”

“I know Leo and I know maybe there are other things we both want to do and could be doing,” John remarked warily as he leaned back in the seat. “So let's just sit, in silence if you wish. You shouldn't be alone Leo.”

John glanced over at the older man. He knew the distraction of Leo, if he kept Leo from the drink then he kept himself from it too and while he was with him he had to keep his feelings subdued too. He couldn't risk Leo's rage at finding out his real relationship with Cadence so he had to work hard to hide his real feelings for the woman. He'd almost slipped up a few times with the F.B.I, letting his frustrations be known when he had heard Zoey had been found but not Cadence. A couple of warning glances from Gavin had let John just how close he had come to making his feelings for Cadence obvious. In here with Leo he was forced to practice restraint.

“Does Jenny know?” John pried.

Leo nodded sombrely. He had his hands on his knees now and was staring numbly at the floor. “She knows, she blamed her, quick to suggest Cady was stupid going out with Zoey, old enough to know better. It wasn't a fair thing to say. They had agents, they should have been safe.”

John nodded agreeably at this. “You don't blame her, do you?” he pried.

“Of course not,” Leo snapped. “We knew they were going out and we let them go, if we didn't know better why should they have?”

John nodded again. “It's not your fault Leo, you couldn't have known this would happen, no one could have.”

“No? Ah maybe not,” Leo murmured grudgingly. “Yet we should have done more anyway because if we had done enough this wouldn't have happened. Something vital was missed and now Cady is paying for it.”

Leo raised his head slightly to give John a serious, almost venomous stare. “If I go for the bottle are you really going to stop me?” he demanded. “Do you think you can?”

John nodded. “I think so Leo because I don't think Cady would forgive me if I didn't at least try. It's the easy option Leo that's all, we both know that.”

Leo frowned. “It does help though, we know that too. It might only be temporary but it still delivers what you want, that moment of oblivion, it takes the edge off for a while and I need that John, right now I do.”

John's stare turned sympathetic. He needed it too, when he had gotten the news after much cursing and many phone calls he opted to down one quick glass of vodka. No mixer or ice, just straight down the throat to try and blind the rage roaring up inside him. It was the only way he could think to numb himself before he made a critical mistake that would result in everyone knowing that he had feelings for Cadence McGarry. Even in this chaos John still thought like an ambitious politician and whilst normally he would've admired his ability to focus on the bigger picture, right now he was disgusted at himself for thinking of his career even as he worried for her.

“Leo, when you get her back how do you think she'd feel knowing she was the one who pushed you over the edge and back into drink? You can't do it, neither of us can.”

John gestured to the abandoned styrofoam cups on the table. “Go for the caffeine fix, it's a drug but it's an easier one to handle.”  
Leo cracked an ugly smile to match the small one John offered up. “One vice for another,” Leo grumbled.

Leo pushed both his hands through his hair suddenly. “God I cannot take this waiting! I'm sitting here stagnant, caught in suspension until someone finds something when I should be doing something only I do not know what. What do I do to get her back?”

“Be patient,” John murmured even as he wondered the same thing. “It is all we can do at the moment Leo.”


	47. The Waiting Game

Josh couldn't feel relief when he finally got the voice he wanted on the phone. It had taken so long, too long, giving Josh too much time to mull over what he could, should and would say and now it was all a muddle in his head. He was tired, it was that kind of exhaustion that hit you when you finally reached your goal and only at the end of your task did the adrenaline that had pushed you through it abandon you to the realisation that you had burnt yourself out for success. It was a pity this kind of success was so minor.

It had taken Josh more than a few enquiries, it was the holiday period so there were no secretaries or receptionists to help, no admin staff in the House who could point him in the right direction. So Josh had taken a risk, one he would never admit to Leo but had confessed to Sam if only because he needed someone to say he'd done the right thing.

It was the day after Boxing Day, the first of those few odd, almost non-existent days between Christmas and New Year that for many Americans were a blur of cold leftovers and treats they would vow to avoid come January's resolutions. For Josh it wasn't a new day but an extension of Christmas Day's night. Boxing Day had been fighting off the fires of press rumours whilst mixing in some healthy normal White House problems that ranged from native to abroad. Some of them as frivolous as deciding which show the president would attend come New Year's Eve as he had spoken of attending a concert. Privately there had been considerations for seeing a visiting Greek orchestra perform as the Greek ambassador would also be in attendance and trade deals were being discussed between the USA and Greece. Given current circumstances, Josh still didn't know the president's plans for New Year's Eve.

It was only when Sam had come to Josh this morning to ask quietly on behalf of Mallory if Tom knew yet that Josh realised he didn't. How would he? It had been hidden from the news and no one had attempted to locate the congressman except for Mallory. Josh had also realised that it had been almost six hours since he had seen Leo. The president had insisted that Toby and Josh take the load from Leo and whilst he hadn't ordered Leo home, he had asked him not to be involved in work. As far as Josh knew, Leo was spending his time with members of the F.B.I enquiring for updates and pressing for leads.

Full of guilt at Sam's query, Josh had started the task of trying to locate Tom to deliver him the news. He had even called at the congressman's town house in person and found it unoccupied as was his office on the hill with no-one there to give Josh a clue. It was why, after much bickering in his own head, Josh had reached out to the only person he could think of that might know where Tom was- Congressman Jeffrey Haffley.

Jeff Haffley hated Josh perhaps as much as Josh hated him. Their run ins had been very few but they had observed enough of each other in action via media to know that if they ever attempted to get to know the other they would despise them. If there had been another option to Jeff, Josh would have taken it but he couldn't think of one and Tom had waited too long to be told about Cadence as it was.

With gritted teeth and a throbbing headache, Josh had delegated the grunt work to Donna to get hold of Jeff. It had involved several phone calls and brief conversations with various staffers before she had located him, surprisingly already back at work. It had made Josh a little suspicious, the man had young kids after all and should surely still be off enjoying the festivities but Josh had pushed the politics aside to try and find out what he needed to know without revealing the sensitive matter of the horror the White House was facing.

“Hi,” Josh greeted awkwardly as Jeff's voice addressed him politely. Josh frowned to himself and pushed a hand up to his tense brow. He didn't even know what to call the man- a grunt of Haffley was a little too disrespectful for this phone call, he didn't like him so he wasn't saying Jeff and yet he didn't know him well enough for Jeffrey either.

“Josh,” Jeff's voice was calm but suspicious as he showed no issues with being familiar with Josh. “I've gotta say, I don't expect a call from you at the best of times but right after Christmas, what gives?”

Josh suppressed a sigh. He had no idea what to say and knew he had to just get to the point. “Jeff..rey...I'm trying to find Tom Landis, do you know where he is?”

Although Josh couldn't see Jeff he knew the man was frowning and the silence that followed was almost smothering.

“Tom Landis,” Jeff finally answered as a hint of irritation crept into his voice. “Why on earth do you care where he is? Sure you got your counterfeit version of his bill passed, you can't have anymore business with him.”

Josh grimaced at Jeff's terminology and waved his free hand outwards as he replied. “No, see, I mean, not completely. We had some dealings with the environmental bill and I thought, maybe we'd room for something to offer him there since he lost this one.”

“Right because after taking a thrashing from the Democrats having another compromise with them is just what he needs,” Jeff retorted sarcastically. “Josh, I think this call could have waited and I think lesser people could have handled it.”

Josh swallowed down a planned snap at Jeff's arrogance. He could tell the man was about to end the call so he abandoned his weak attempts at a cover story.

“Jeff I really need to talk to him, it's personal and it's serious!”

“Josh, he's trying to get a break from you lot I'm not going to help you ruin that.”

“Jeff please,” Josh begged. He scowled to himself, loathing the level he had sunk to just to try and find Tom. “I can't get into details but it is important I talk to him, it's about his girlfriend.”

“Well I can't even begin to imagine why you'd be involved with Tom Landis' relationship problems but if she knows you that probably explains why he hasn't told me her name yet.”

“Jeff, please, I need to get him immediately, it really is important.”

“He's gone home Josh.”

“Really? I was there, I didn't see him.”

“You were in Chesapeake?” Jeff sneered sarcastically.

“Oh, oh!” Josh's eyes went wide with realisation.

“Is that all Josh?”

“Um no.” Josh gave a bitter smile as he pushed his hand back to his throbbing forehead. “Do you have a number for him there?”

Jeff let out a tired sigh making it clear that he didn't consider Josh worthy of his time. “One moment.”

Josh heard the receiver shift and feared briefly that the call had been disconnected until he heard a muffled rustling in the background.

Jeff returned to the phone a minute later and with an obvious reluctance called out the number to Josh.

“Josh, can I suggest for your New Year's resolution that you don't play political games with the liberal Republican? Tom is too nice and naïve for his own good, he won't last this term if he keeps trying to make nice with you. The party are already asking if he's blue on the inside.”

Josh winced slightly. “Sure Jeff, wouldn't do for a Democrat and Republican to be friends because then there might be peace and we'd all be out of a job,” he retorted bitingly.

“Glad you understand,” Jeff replied sardonically. “Goodbye Josh, please don't call this side of the year again.”

Josh didn't get a chance to reply before the call was ended. “Schmuck,” he grumbled even though he knew it was unfair. Jeff had helped in the end after all.

Josh proceeded to dial the number he had been given and hoped for an answer. Chesapeake was just over three hours away and Josh had no idea when Tom had actually left for there although it had definitely been more than three hours since Josh had went to Tom's D.C domain.

“Hello?” The voice that answered sounded tired and a little irritated but it was definitely Tom's.

“Hey Tom,” Josh greeted wearily.

“Josh? How in the hell did you get this number?” Tom quipped in bafflement.

“Tom, listen, I've got bad news but I can't go into details, not on this line, it might not be secure.”

“What?”

“Tom, I have very serious news regarding Cady and I need you back here so I can tell you.”

“Josh,” Tom's voice turned angry, “I think you know, I don't want any more news about Cady. I did try to call her,” he admitted, “to talk it over but she didn't answer so I'm giving us some space.”

“Tom no, look, I can't talk about it over the phone but she wasn't ignoring you something... something's happened.”

“Josh what the hell?” Tom snapped. “You're not making any damn sense, do you know that? What is it with you and Cady anyway? You know, you're the one person I can't get a proper read on. You don't like her but you defend her all the time, you're against our relationship but you don't want me to end it.”

“Tom she's in trouble!” Josh blurted it out before he could help himself. He cursed himself mentally for his foolish confession and shook his head. “Damn it Tom, come back to D.C.”

“Where will I meet you?” Tom queried quietly.

“At the White House.”

“Right, I'll leave now.”

“Good, I'll see you soon Tom.”

Josh ended the call and exhaled heavily. Considering how excruciating the phone call had been Josh couldn't even imagine how difficult it would be telling Tom in person what had happened.

\----

John Hoynes was doing a daring balancing act. He had to show some of his feelings for Cadence's plight, she was his employee after all and he had a history with her on the campaign trail, sure no one was to know just what kind of history but it meant it wasn't crazy to think that he might know her better than some other members of his team. The balance was in trying to figure out just how much of his true feelings he showed. If he got it wrong then he was off the rope and plunging towards Leo McGarry's wrath.

It was with Leo that John had sought out company. Even if John couldn't expose the extent of his fears for the young woman he could at least sit with someone who shared them. The problem was that John had thought it would be easier to sit with Leo and express some of his worry than it would be to sit in the Eisenhower and hide all of it but John had thought wrong. It was far harder to try and conceal some of his emotions and find that balance rather than simply conceal them all and don a mask of indifference just like the president.

What concerned John was that Jed's mask seemed a little too real. He had met with him once this morning when summoned to sit on the Cabinet to discuss free trade with Greece of all things. Already in a tormented mood, John had only turned more sullen as he had realised Jed was in favour of the move. Free trade was something John opposed as he believed it took business away from the American people. Seeing Jed debate the matter had made John angry, it was almost like nothing had happened, the only clue was that Jed's temper seemed as short as John's leading to a shouting match between them.

The worst of it all was that Jed had been happy for the story of the verbal skirmish to leak because it took some sniffing press noses away from the real story they were still unaware of. John considered privately that he was happy to be sacrificed to the press for this but he was annoyed Jed hadn't even discussed it with him before approving the leak. John also believed that it was only a delay tactic and that Jed and C.J really needed to get a handle on things and consider a statement before the news was blown for them.

John looked across the small office space to Leo. The man looked haggard and John doubted he had slept the past couple of nights. John had slumbered only briefly and only with the aid of vodka. The office wasn't Leo's but one loaned to him so that he could be on White House territory without being caught up in the business of Chief of Staff. It was small and dim, the window was narrow with a poor view of grey skies and the light bulb was dusty and due a change. The room had been cold until Margaret had ventured in and saw to it that the radiators were checked and adjusted.

Leo sat in a single office chair behind a desk, silent and stone faced, indifferent to the date or time of day as his blue gaze focused solely on the phone on the desk. He had greeted John with a look, at first curious before it slipped to disappointed as he realised it wasn't someone with news for him.

John occupied a well-loved couch sitting against a plain wall with a glass table before it. A half-drunk glass of water sat on the table before him, untouched for half an hour. John had abandoned his stilted attempt at conversation with Leo ten minutes ago. Now he sat cross-legged staring at the glass and contemplating whiskey. A strong part of him was sorely tempted to suggest getting smashed to Leo but the sensible side resisted.

John had considered leaving the man but he knew if there was news about Cadence, Leo would be the first informed and John wanted to be the second. The quiet of this office should have been a comfort but John found it a torture as all he had were his thoughts. She had been drunk, angry with him and probably all too vulnerable to whoever had taken her. Given her state, John had been a little astonished to hear how she had been able to protect Zoey. He had wondered how soon after her call to him it had all happened. To say he regretted not acting to find her that night was an understatement. His guilt had been so strong he had almost blacked out with whiskey last night. It had made listening to Jed berate him in the Cabinet this morning all the more difficult as his skull had pounded with each sharp word the president chose to add a sardonic emphasis to for John's benefit.

John wondered what he should say to her when she was found. If she was found. He tensed in his seat and his cerulean gaze flickered over to Leo. Was Leo tormented by the uncertainty of it all? Would he give a statement? Make an offer to whoever had her? John wondered at the fact that Leo hadn't, surely her captors knew who she was and had figured out that her powerful and wealthy father knew about her absence by now. Were they angry that Leo hadn't acknowledged things publicly?

John squirmed slightly as he thought of worse things, all the things they might do to get Leo's attention since they didn't seem to have it. Things they might consider to threaten him into helping carry out whatever demand it was they had.

It was difficult to know any of that. The only update today was that Raquel McCandless had been located and obtained. She'd made it across state lines and been picked up in a local garage. Now she was in some nameless, secure facility without a postcode probably, facing an interrogation from the F.B.I.

Agent Casper had informed Leo that Raquel had been dealing with people local to the country, she'd suggested accents akin to Texas but there was no certainty. There wasn't much more. The bullets they had used were nothing special and, despite them murdering two trained agents, their kidnapping had still been deemed sloppy so the conclusion was that they weren't military or Special Forces or anything like that.

Of course right now neither Leo nor John cared who they might be, they just wanted Cadence safe. Although, John was darkly hopeful that when she was found whoever had done this might become collateral in the rescue.

John fidgeted with his blazer pockets. They had already had her a full day and night, what were they waiting for? What had they done to her? There was the terrible thought that maybe because she wasn't Zoey she was dead already but John refused to believe that. He wondered how many more days there might be before they had something. She was the Chief of Staff's daughter and the bulk of the F.B.I were looking into it, how the hell couldn't they have more by now?

The door knocked and both John and Leo tensed as they looked to it expectantly.

When Leo failed to answer, John glanced his way again. Leo just seemed vacant, it was like the sound had drawn him back from another world but he was still lost in transit, uncertain if the knock had been real or imagined.

The door opened without the response and an agent John did not know the name of peered into them with a nervous excitement.

“Sir,” the agent nodded to both John and Leo. “Cadence McGarry had been found.”

With those five words chaos broke out in the office as Leo finally came back to life. He and John both jumped up simultaneously but as Leo had the desk in his way, John was able to corner the agent first.

“How is she?” John snapped. “And where was she found?”

The agent shrank back slightly as the taller man glowered down at him fiercely. “I don't know all the details, Agent Casper just gave me a quick call to say he was going to her and to let you, er Mr McGarry that is, know. He said she's alive but needs medical treatment and to head for Bridgepoint.”

“We have a medical facility here!” John snapped.

The agent gave an anxious nod. “When she's stable sir.”

“Stable?” Leo echoed with worry. “I need to get to her.” He headed for the door, bypassing the agent as he did.

John hastened after Leo, determined that Leo wouldn't go to her without him. He didn't bother to wonder or worry over how it might be perceived. The only thing that mattered right now to John Hoynes was seeing Cadence and ensuring that she was well.


	48. Bedside Manner

Trash. The word resonated through Leo McGarry as he stared down at his youngest child with guilt and grief. She had been treated like it and now he felt like it. He barely recognised her in the bed, she was lost beneath the thin sheets, her skin was an odd shade of grey save for the bloodstains about her nostrils and the dark shadowy hint of bruising at her eyes. The doctors had assured that she was stable and would wake in her own time but right now Leo was having difficulty imagining her waking up and he was terrified of Cadence just ceasing to exist.

Agent Casper had tried to explain what he knew to the Chief of Staff but it had become white noise. Leo had kept his stare upon Cadence whilst the agent had talked, listening hard for her soft breaths, terrified of her suddenly falling silent. It had been left for the Vice President to take in the update.

John Hoynes had felt awkward the moment he had followed Leo into the hospital room to see that Cadence was as stable as the doctors claimed. It was only when he witnessed the very subtle tremble of Leo's shoulders as he faced his daughter that John realised the personal moment he had intruded upon. Even as he felt his own conflict of emotions he had to force them all down and play neutral, putting on a front of being here to support Leo. It wasn't that he didn't care for Leo's well-being in this moment but if he thought of Leo as a father and tried to relate in that manner it made his own feelings towards Cadence seem horribly inappropriate and John wasn't ready to deal with that guilt.

There was a murmur of voices in the hall before the handle of the door bent down. The blinds in the glass were up to expose the room as the Secret Service were adamant that they had eyes on the Vice President. John had only a moment to glimpse through the window pane to see who was intruding now.

Leo registered the sound of the door opening but he kept his gaze on Cadence, wary that if he looked away she would stop breathing.

Tom Landis entered the room in a panicked hurry, he swung the door behind him without pausing to ensure it closed properly. He was wearing an untucked white shirt, grey trousers and a mismatching pair of shoes and his dark hair was in disarray.

“How is she?” he queried in a quiet awkwardness as he glimpsed Cadence's unconscious form.

The Vice President stared over at Tom with a guarded look of disdain. Much as he blamed himself for not going to Cadence when she had phoned him drunk he blamed Tom more. Tom was the one who had fought with her on Christmas Day of all days and put her in the bad mood leading her to drink heavily.

When no one answered him, Tom hastened to the bedside. It put him closer to John and he made a point of ignoring the taller man as he looked down to the unconscious woman.

“Cady,” Tom murmured softly as he reached out a hand to her.

John watched with envy as Tom stroked her brow gently, wishing he could do the same. He needed her to know he had come to see her, that he had been first to her side, joint first if one was getting technical. Alright, if asked he'd play it down as supporting Leo in as much as seeing how his employee was but still, the gesture had to count for something.

Tom glanced up from her to Leo who hadn't moved or shifted his gaze. “What happened to her?” Tom demanded.

“Ask Agent Casper,” John responded when Leo failed to, “he'll give you the details.”

“Which one is he?” Tom quipped calmly as he continued to avoid looking to John. He had felt rage the moment he had entered the room and saw the Vice President standing there and knew if he looked at him again he'd punch him.

“Outside, just ask,” John said bluntly.

John wanted Tom gone again but he knew it wouldn't be so simple, the man would linger, waiting until she woke and no one would question his presence but if John stayed everyone would be suspicious and neither he nor Cadence needed that drama right now.

“I'm not going outside,” Tom replied in a brittle calm as he swallowed down his anger.

There was a soft gasp interrupting the men and drawing their attention to Cadence.

The young woman's eyes blinked open, sticky with sleep and swollen from abuse, they creaked only halfway open before the irises in them started rolling about in a blurred confusion.

Tom dropped to a crouch so he was eye level with her. “Hey Cady,” he greeted softly. He made himself show a smile but it was weak and not the lopsided grin she had grown accustomed to. “Heroics on Christmas Day hmm? I'm impressed,” he jested.

Cadence looked at him in bewilderment as her swollen eyes struggled to focus on him.

Tom reached out a hand to stroke her right cheek gently. “You're safe, at the hospital,” he said seriously.

“Tom,” she croaked out his name.

“That's right Cady.”

She heaved out a laboured breath followed by a groan of pain. “Tom why aren't you wearing a jacket?” she queried hoarsely as she peered at him in puzzlement.

Tom's face lit up with mirth as he offered her a more sincere grin. “I was in a hurry to get here,” he confessed. “Couldn't let you wake up and think I'd something better to do than see you.”

Tom glanced over and up to Leo who was standing impatiently waiting to speak with his daughter. “Anyway, your dad's here,” Tom murmured as he stood upright, stroking her hair gently as he did, “and your...” He glanced to John unfavourably before muttering, “boss.”

“Tom don't go,” Cadence pleaded as she tried to turn her head to look up him but was halted by a flash of pain.

Tom gave her a gentle stare, he knew she was confused, doped up, half-asleep still and maybe suffering a concussion for all he knew. When it all came back to her she might not want him here and an awkward conversation would be forced but he knew he wasn't leaving her. Even before he had known she was in trouble he had done nothing but worry about and think of her. Hell he had missed her, even as he had wondered bitterly how strong her feelings for the V.P were. He just wanted to draw a line under what he knew about her and the V.P .

“I'm not going anywhere Cady,” Tom assured her.

Tom stepped back and let Leo take his place.

Leo hurried to stand closer to his daughter, putting her in his shadow as he stared down at her with worry.

Cadence turned her head slowly to face him, squinting at the lights above him as she struggled to focus on him.

“Dad, how's Zoey?” she quipped with concern.

“She's a little shaken but otherwise fine, they didn't get her thanks to you,” Leo reassured her. “How are you feeling?”

Cadence attempted a smile, wincing slightly as the right corner of her mouth throbbed with the effort. “Sore.”

Leo's eyes widened slightly. “Where?”

“All over but still breathing,” she winced again, “so it's okay.”

Leo frowned at her attempt at humour and shook his head. “Cady you don't need to pretend, you've been gone for almost three nights, it's not okay.”

Cadence's shoulders tensed as her mouth settled into a thin line and her pupils shone with fear. She said nothing and turned her head away from her father.

John watched on silently, desperate to intervene but resisting because he knew it wouldn't be worth the trouble that would follow. He wanted to admonish Leo for his statement, the poor woman had only just woken up after all, there was plenty of time to try and figure out what exactly had happened to her.

“Cady we don't have to talk about it now. I know you're sore and tired and probably disoriented, I just need you to know you don't need to pretend it's okay, no one is expecting that of you,” Leo said seriously.

Cadence shuddered slightly under the sheets but continued to maintain her silence.

“Come on,” Tom interrupted angrily. Despite his anger he kept his tone soft and his stance unthreatening as he remained back from Leo. “That's enough for now.”

Leo glowered over his shoulder at the man and found Tom glaring back at him unflinchingly.

John took his chance to step forward, putting himself beside Leo and Cadence's bedside.

“I think it's enough that Cady is safe and stable,” John said calmly.

Tom frowned at the Vice President's play on his words but kept his gaze on Leo.

Leo turned back to Cadence at John's words and nodded. “Yes, you're safe Cady, that is the important thing and there are a lot of people to help you get better.”

Tom folded his arms as his frown deepened with Leo's words. He was a little concerned by which 'people' and 'help' Leo might be referring to.

Cadence stayed silent with her head turned away. She had her eyes closed as it ached to keep them open and yet they still stung. Her body was tender and taut and with every flinch of pain there was a terrible memory threatening to run through her. She was confused but desperate not to make sense of the muddle in her head knowing it wouldn't be good. Zoey was safe, asking that had been enough of a confrontation with the past few nights for her.

“Alright, we'll let you rest now,” Leo said gently.

Leo felt guilt threaten to smother him as Cadence continued to ignore him. This was his fault in a way, he had brought her into this life, raised her profile and her risk. He had also known she was out with Zoey that night but he hadn't questioned the security detail and considered it adequate, that had been a sloppy mistake. Feeling his guilt threaten to drown him, he knew he had to leave and attempt to compose himself.

Leo reached a hand down to his daughter before letting it hover awkwardly over her head. He was afraid she would only jerk away from his touch.

“I'm going to let Mallory and your mother know you're awake. You get some rest and I'll see you soon.”

Leo turned away from the bed. He gave John a nod of thanks and gave Tom a brief, serious glance. Tom still looked cross and Leo wasn't sure what to think of that. He recalled the napkin in the restaurant with the message 'she matters' and nodded at Tom as well. He departed briskly from the room, heading out to a corridor crowded with Secret Service agents.

John waited to hear the close of the door before he chose to speak again. He was finding it hard to hold back from offering the young woman a comforting hand. The medical smells and faint odour of dried blood that clung to her were troubling and only increased his concern for her welfare.

“You were very brave Cady,” John praised her, “you need to know that. Crazy too,” he scolded lightly with a faint smile. “You had me more worried than I've been for a very long time and I'm more relieved than you know to see you.”

Tom bristled at John's words and his eyes filled with an arctic rage as he struggled to refrain from reacting. He knew it wouldn't be fair to Cadence in her current state and he ventured that maybe it was John wanted him to do- make a scene, lose his temper and upset Cadence.

If Cadence heard John's words she didn't show it as she remained rigid in the bed with her gaze averted to the wall.

John's stare turned sympathetic. “Well I'll see you soon, get better Cady.”

John turned from her, pausing to shoot Tom an accusing stare. “Don't you think you should let her rest too?” he queried calmly.

Tom was stiff against the wall as he glared back at the Vice President.

“She asked me to stay,” Tom reminded him.

John raised his eyebrows slightly at this before giving a small nod. “She must have forgotten you asked her to go,” he said quietly as he retained his calm.

John headed out of the room before Tom could retort.

\---

Abbey approached the hospital room briskly, eager to see how her daughter's rescuer was. She had been desperate to come sooner but protocol, red tape and the risk of press had caused delays. Now the story was out, the press had noted the activity of Secret Service in the hospital and had already worked out that Zoey Bartlet had been present at the hotel the night all the emergency services had showed up. The story had snowballed and prompted a brief statement from the president to try and dispel some of the rumours but he had spoken too late and half the journalists were convinced he was covering up something despite his statement that it had been a localised attempt to kidnap his daughter. Terrorists, cartel, political rivals and foreign enemies had all been mentioned in the papers. Of course, given Cadence was the one in hospital, the focus was on Colombia and the C.I.A. No one was going to believe the convenience of Zoey being the only target. Hell there was even a strong suggestion that Cadence had always been the target and Zoey might have been a bonus or the president was claiming Zoey had been the target because he didn't want a war with Colombia or a fallout with the C.I.A. It was ridiculous of course but they had tried to conceal the story for too long so now no one was ready to believe the truth.

Leo had wanted to move Cadence from the hospital to the White House medical facility but she had refused to go. It was the only real reaction she had given to once again being the subject of the media. It was Leo who had told her about some of the headlines, only so she could know even as he waved them off and told her not to be concerned about them.

It was almost eleven o'clock in the evening, in some ways a terrible time to visit but in other ways perfect as Abbey was avoiding other public visitors and the bulk of the press. She was wary that one or two journalists might be skulking nearby despite being kept off hospital grounds by both the Secret Service and police as well as legal threats on the grounds of harassment, intrusion into privacy and putting people's health at risk by potentially delaying them access to the hospital with their presence. They were flimsy charges for sure but it kept most of them away, instead they looked to the press pool at the White House to get the scoop from C.J.

“Evening ma'am,” Mike Casper greeted as he gave the First Lady a small smile.

Mike stood by the door in a generic dark grey suit, poised and calm giving away no clues as to how long he had been there for.

“Evening,” Abbey retorted with a smile.

“Tom's sleeping,” Mike advised as Abbey approached the door. “He was awake for over twelve hours.”

Abbey glanced over to Mike curiously. “Doesn't he go home?”

Mike gave a quiet laugh at this and shook his head. “Not often and not for long enough. I don't think he believes we can keep her safe as well as he can.” Mike's expression sobered slightly at this. “He might be right about that,” he admitted grimly.

Abbey chose not to comment, her ire for the Secret Service's failure to keep Zoey and Cadence safe that night was well known. Only Jed's rebuking reminder that two had laid down their lives for Zoey had stilled her rage slightly.

Abbey reached for the door handle before hesitating again and glancing back to Mike. “What visitors has she had? Her sister, Mallory? Her mother, Jenny?”

Mike nodded. “Mallory's been a few times.”

“And her mother?”

Mike looked uncomfortable as he gave a light shrug. “Not while I've been on duty,” he answered vaguely.

Abbey pursued her lips slightly knowing that Mike would have asked for a list of any visitors that had come while he was off duty, he was the agent heading the protection for Cadence after all.

“I see,” she retorted bluntly. “Well, I'll be quiet for Tom.”

Abbey resumed opening the door and stepped into the room as quietly as she could manage. She realised another problem with picking a late visit- as it was deemed bedtime the lights were off.

The room was in various shades of grey from the light that slipped in through the door's glass pane and the gap between it and the doorway, accentuated by shadows where the stray light beams didn't reach.

Abbey held the edge of the door with one hand, reluctant to close it and plunge the room into further darkness. Her curious gaze took in its two residents. Tom Landis wasn't so much asleep as passed out. He was on a chair, rigid and bent at an uncomfortable angle, eyes shut and a grey, itchy looking blanket tossed over him.

“He needs a pillow.” Cadence McGarry was wide awake, sitting upright in her bed and looking to Tom with a gaunt gaze. “Can you get a pillow for him?” she queried worriedly. “He'll hurt his neck like that.”

Abbey smiled at the young woman but it was hard. Now she understood why Leo kept saying Cadence was 'stable for now' when asked after her health. The woman appeared rigid and yet oddly animated at the same time, her body stiff and yet her eyes darting about frantically. Abbey realised her arrival had scared Cadence and despite taking in who it was she was yet to be soothed by it.

“I'll have someone get one for him,” Abbey assured.

Abbey turned her attention back to the corridor, leaning out to face Mike. “Agent Casper could you get someone to find a spare pillow for Tom please?” she queried calmly.

Mike smiled and nodded. “Certainly ma'am.”

Abbey smiled back before retreating to the room, taking care to close the door this time. She turned back to Cadence but it was difficult to see her in the added darkness. “Can we turn out the bedside light perhaps?” she suggested.

Abbey stepped forward, taking care to move lightly all too aware of the sound of her heels upon the tiles. She reached the bedside and extended a hand out to the lamp attached to the wall, clicking it on without waiting for Cadence's answer. It was like a spotlight as it shone down on a patch of blanket on the bed. Abbey pushed it back and out slightly, fiddling with the flexible arm as she tried to expose Cadence to her a little better without blinding the young woman.

As she searched a chair her gaze lingered on the bedside cabinet, which was littered with 'Get Well' cards and a bouquet of flowers. Abbey couldn't be certain but she didn't think anything had come from Jenny. Abbey grabbed the chair seated to the left of the cabinet by the bed and brought it closer before occupying it. She looked back to Cadence and gave her a warm smile.

“Cady firstly, thank you,” she addressed her seriously, “for saving Zoey. As a mother I can never truly convey the depth of gratitude I feel for what you did for my daughter.” She sucked in a slight breath as her smile wavered slightly before she managed to save it. There was a brief flicker of sorrow in her gaze and her eyes shone a little more brightly as she took in the young woman before her. “I'm not even entirely sure what all you suffered,” she admitted, “and I know some people have suggested that maybe you were the target but that was not the case. A student at Zoey's college made a deal with a group, she set my daughter up in exchange for money.” Abbey's smile faded, her glossed lips settling into a line of anger as she tensed in the chair.

Abbey kept staring at Cadence as concern crept back into her gaze. “I know you haven't talked about it but it would be helpful because they haven't all been caught. They were part of a racist gang, so poisoned with hate and rage that they decided making an example of a prominent figure would get their point across.”

Abbey stiffened against and stared momentarily at her lap as she settled her hands there and distracting herself by smoothing out the lines in her dark bronze skirt.

“They wanted her dead,” Cadence finally spoke up in a voice that was hollow.

“Yes,” Abbey admitted as she looked away to the door before turning back to Cadence with a faint smile and a nod. “They did, there would have been no ransom.”

“They wanted me dead,” Cadence said flatly, “but they were so angry with me.” She shuddered and without warning let out a sudden yell. “They were so angry!”

Tom bolted upright, jolting in his chair as his eyes opened wide with the sound. “Cady?” he queried in confusion. He blinked at the figure sitting beside her and was on his feet and rushing forward.

Abbey turned round to give Tom an apologetic stare, revealing herself to him as she did.

Cadence had fallen silent again, her figure taut in the bed as she stared up at the ceiling blankly.

“I apologise Tom, I didn't mean to wake you,” Abbey said sincerely.

Tom stared down at her in confusion before his blue gaze darted to Cadence. “You didn't,” he retorted calmly, “she did. Cady are you okay?”

Cadence didn't react to Tom's voice. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away.

Tom sighed and pushed a hand up to rub his stiff neck. “Cady, honey, you can't keep pushing it away,” he murmured.

Abbey glanced up at him curiously. “Has she talked about it at all?” she pried.

Tom lowered his hand and shook his head. “Nothing about anything after Christmas Eve,” he confessed. “The doctors checked, no head trauma or concussion, she's just blocking everything out. Post traumatic stress,” he muttered. “Except she's really forcing it because she remembered enough to ask about Zoey's welfare.”

Tom frowned, he was still waiting for her to mention Christmas Day morning and their fallout but she hadn't and he knew it was suppressed with everything else that had happened on that day and after it. Leo had made some murmurings about a psychiatrist friend he had gotten in touch with for her but Tom hadn't heard anymore about it.

Abbey nodded. “Understandable considering the circumstances,” she murmured. “It's not helpful to you however Cady,” she cautioned as she turned her attention back to the young woman. She reached out to her and stroked her cheek lightly with all the comfort of a mother's touch. “What has happened has happened but it won't stay in your past if you don't confront and overcome it. Why don't you try to share a little of it with me? If it gets too difficult we can stop but I think it would be good for you to talk about it. We can start at the beginning, you told Zoey to hide in a wardrobe and stay quiet and then you pretended you had urged her out a window.”

Cadence let out a moan. “I don't remember that,” she said hoarsely. “I remember Zoey was in trouble but that's all, there were lights and people and loud banging. There's always gunfire and rain.”

“It wasn't raining that night Cady,” Abbey said softly.

“It's always raining when it happens,” Cadence insisted.

Tom frowned when she began to quiver under the blanket. “Can we do this some other time?” he queried. “She's meant to be getting out in two days.” He lowered his voice as he glanced down at Abbey. “I don't want that set back for her.”

Abbey nodded sympathetically even as she continued to stroke the woman's cheek. “Alright,” she said gently. “Cady, you've done well and Jed and I are very proud of you and grateful to you. Jed and Zoey are both looking forward to seeing you.”

“I just want to go home,” Cadence said miserably.

“You will,” Tom assured. “In a couple of days, remember? You're getting discharged and then we'll get you home.”

“I just want home,” Cadence repeated, her voice breaking slightly as she held back a sob.

Abbey withdrew her hand and gave Tom another apologetic glance. “I have a pillow arriving for you,” she said as she gave him a small smile, “if you're intent on staying here all the time you should take better care.”

Tom raised his hands to hips as he stared down at the First Lady, unsure of what to make of her comment. “Are you saying I should be somewhere else?”

Abbey gave a soft chuckle at this. “Tom, I'm being sincere and I'm very glad that you are here for her.”

Tom's expression softened and he slackened his stance.

Abbey stood up from the seat at last. “I'll let you get some sleep Cady.” She turned to face Tom again. “You too Tom, you look tired,” she observed. “The agents are outside and the hospital is well staffed, you can rest.”

“I'll rest in a couple of days,” Tom murmured.


	49. Relapse

No sooner out than back in. It was like Stockholm Syndrome had taken place and she couldn't exist outside the hospital except that wasn't quite it. She wasn't sure about being out there in the world anymore but she didn't want to be here either and she feared what would follow- being in a secure facility for her own good was not something she thought she could endure again. There were no flowers or get well cards this time, people didn't want to hope for her release this time.

Cadence McGarry had been out of hospital for over two weeks before the incident. She had continued to refuse to talk about her abduction but had demonstrated a bright outlook, reassuring everyone that she was fine, eager to get back to work and making jokes about maybe having a low key Christmas next time. She had spent the two weeks mostly at home in recovery and avoiding the press. There had been a couple of visits to the White House to see the president and Zoey and accept their sincere thanks and an offer of a pleasant lunch there. It had all been quiet as Cadence did not want a fuss. She had just informed everyone that she wanted to move on.

Cadence's desperate attempts to try and force herself to forget and feign happiness had ended three nights ago.

As far as Leo had gathered she had take a bath and opened a bottle of wine to help her relax in the bath. The problem was that she had become fixated with a scar or mark on her side, one he knew little about, and the fixation had turned into an obsession she had tried to quell with drink. Instead the alcohol had just fuelled the obsession and Cadence had gotten it into her head that if she could remove this mark she could be rid of 'bad memories'.

The details around the event were a little scant. All Leo knew for sure was that Cadence had used a knife on herself and it was just as well she hadn't been able to mute her yelp of pain when she had done so. Agent Mike Casper, on guard duty in her apartment, had heard her yelp, hurried in and stopped her before it could get any worse. He had then called the ambulance and staved off the bleeding.

Leo had made his decision over what should be done last night. It had involved a very heated, long and angry argument with Mallory but even she had to concede that Cadence needed real help. Now Leo was sitting on a miserable, ice cold January morning having version two of the argument with Tom Landis.

Leo hadn't told Tom of his plans and wondered if he had even intended on doing so. He admired how Tom had stuck by Cadence in hospital the first time but he still wasn't ready to acknowledge him as someone serious in her life. In the end it didn't matter because evidently Mallory had disagreed with Leo's thoughts and told Tom that her father planned to have her sister sent to a mental health facility for 'a while'.

Leo was seated at his desk, sombre and calm as he readied himself to argue with the Republican. He wondered how in the hell they were almost through January and yet still dealing with Cadence in hospital. So much for the new year, clean slate approach.

“Everything that's already happened,” Leo murmured grimly, “now this and she's inherited my vices, damn it all the things I could have given her and it was weakness and trouble.”

“Hey!” Tom snapped angrily as he glowered down at the older man. “That isn't fair, she was selfless, trying to save the President's daughter and this started with Colombia, she wasn't there for her own good. That's the problem, she's always trying to look after everyone else.”

Leo glanced up at the younger man. He had arrived unscheduled just a few minutes ago, unconcerned that Leo might have some other serious business to attend to this afternoon like problems in the Middle East. Leo noticed that Tom was starting to get greys at his temples, the man looked as tired as Leo felt but he was still making an effort of composure in a dark navy suit with a white shirt.

“She drinks Landis,” Leo muttered darkly as he pushed a hand to his brow, “more than she should, it's not at my level but my God there's time isn't there? This is how it starts and she hurts herself, when bad things happen out of her control that's how she tries to bring the control back. This wasn't a first for her.” He lowered his hand and shook his head. “I'm not losing her to this, I wanted therapy for her after Colombia but she refused, well I'm not letting her refuse this time. Hell if I'd known about the things that had happened her first trip in Colombia when they had happened I'd have gotten her the therapy then.”

“Jesus,” Tom cursed out. “You're just trying to shove her away, out of sight, out of public eye. Are you trying to micromanage the damage?”

Tom scowled at Leo as he raised his hands to his hips and towered over the Chief of Staff. “You're on the job still, aren't you? Thinking of what it means to the press, to your boss,” he sneered, “it's always about everyone else. What about her?”

Leo's face twisted into anger as he glowered up at Tom. “Well Landis, we are in my office so yes, I am on the job as you put it,” he snapped back sardonically. “However, this is about her, she needs help and I am acknowledging that because I know she won't!”

Leo's voice rose as he felt the anger rise within him. He embraced it, welcoming it to banish the guilt that had been sitting like a very real lump in his stomach for weeks now.

“I mean more than a token therapy session, she needs real help, full-time. If I give her time alone again...” Leo shook his head angrily. “Well I can't be with her all the time and neither can you, so what do you suggest?”

Leo's gaze softened slightly as he changed his tact for a more appealing approach to the Republican.

“It won't be forever, just until she's more stable. If you care about her you can understand that.”

Tom continued to look angry as he glared back at Leo with an icy stare. “You have no idea how she'll even be-”

“I can guess,” Leo interrupted hotly as his anger returned. “She's my daughter,” he added as he gestured to his chest with one hand, “I know her, I know the demons she's already fighting and I know how this is going to keep affecting her. She'll just keep trying to push it all away, never confronting it, squashing it down with drink and maybe more until the next erratic outburst or worse, until she grabs that knife again because pain is a vice too. It's her distraction from this.”

“You don't know that she'll do that,” Tom argued bluntly.

“Well I'd rather take precautions because I am not running the risk of losing her permanently!” Leo pointed at Tom accusingly as he shouted.

Leo stood up from his desk at last to try and equal the gap between him and Tom. “You're a congressman,” he reminded him, “you have no more time for her than I do so don't pretend otherwise.” Leo folded his arms as he frowned at Tom. “Are you going to put her before all your constitutes who voted for you?” he quipped sardonically. “Are you only for them when you're single?”

Tom bristled at the accusation. He pushed a hand up through his gelled hair as his lip curdled slightly into a scowl. Wordlessly he shook his head before he stormed out of the office.

Leo waited for a few minutes. He considered returning to his seat but knew if he sat the weight of his burdens would overcome him and he might not rise again. Instead he stepped out of the office, satisfied that Tom was gone, and looked to Margaret expectantly.

Margaret gave Leo a look of sympathy he was becoming accustomed to in the White House.

“Any news?” he snapped at her, hating the pity in her eyes. Sympathy and pity meant something in his life was beyond his control and he loathed that not just on a personal level but on a professional one as well because he feared that it would give the opinion that if he couldn't control things in his own personal sphere he certainly couldn't manage the affairs on an entire continent.

Margaret shook her head. “No sir,” she retorted politely.

Leo nodded. “Get me Josh and Sam, the business with Iran isn't going to sort itself,” he grumbled.

Leo retreated to his office, determined that he would throw himself into his work for a few hours. He scowled as he realised the irony of it, he too wanted distractions to hide from the pain of things in his life. He just wanted a busy day so he could delay the phone call he had to make. That was what Mallory hadn't understood, that Leo really didn't want Cadence in a facility either but what other options were there? She was hurting herself again and it would only be a matter of time before she either misjudged the depth of the cut or intentionally decided to take it to the next level.

–

“Knock, knock.”

C.J glanced up from her desk with an unimpressed stare. “Danny if you say knock, knock while you knock it defeats the purpose,” she scorned the journalist standing in her doorway with his fist raised to the ajar door. “Also, how exactly do you keep getting in here?”

Danny smiled as he stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. “Everyone knows me C.J and, more importantly, they like me,” he boasted as his smile widened.

C.J made a show of rolling her eyes at his bragging but she couldn't quite subdue her smile. She was in the middle of typing and glanced back to her document, making sure to save it before she turned a weary look back to Danny.

“I'm busy,” she said bluntly, “what is it you're after?”

C.J held up the palm of her right hand suddenly. “If it's anything about Zoey or Cadence forget it, you're not getting an exclusive, no one is,” she informed him firmly.

Danny shrugged and glanced at his watch, nudging the face slightly with his other hand as he shifted the strap up slightly before gazing back to C.J calmly.

“It's about Congressman Landis actually,” he said casually.

“Oh.” C.J looked confused. “Why do you want to know about him? And shouldn't you be asking the Republican press people? That is assuming it's that Landis and not another Congressman Landis I don't know about,” she added sardonically.

“Maybe I should go to the Republicans,” Danny mused. “They're my next port of call actually but the reception at Congress is never that warm to me.” Danny flashed C.J another smile.

“Well what is it about Congressman Landis that you think I might know?” C.J queried as she gave Danny a baffled expression.

“Why has he quit C.J?”

“Quit?” C.J repeated in confusion. She glanced to some notes at her desk, disinterested in the conversation. “Quit what Danny?”

“Congress.”

C.J tensed in her seat and made a point of keeping her gaze down on her notes as she wrestled to keep her expression neutral. She turned her head up slowly, mastering a calm stare in her blue eyes. “When do you think he did that?” she queried carefully.

“I don't think he did it,” Danny retorted, still calm as amusement twinkled in his gaze, “I know he did C.J. He resigned on television just an hour ago.”

C.J shook her head casually. “And he didn't say why?”

Danny's smile widened. “Are you fishing C.J? Don't you know about this?” he queried teasingly.

“Humour me.”

Danny snickered. “Wow you don't know about this. Well, alright, if it gets me a favour.”

C.J sighed and raised a hand up to her brow. “Danny come on, he's a Republican congressman, it's not big news for me that's he quit, it's curiosity on a personal level.”

“Well I still want something C.J, if it's something minor fine but I don't have to be nice and share.”

“Then don't,” C.J grumbled as she lowered her hand to her desk. “Carol! Carol” she yelled for her assistant.

The door opened and Carol gazed in curiously. “You can use the phone you know,” she said, “it's better than yelling through closed doors.”

“Yeah, Carol, find out for me what this is about Congressman Landis quitting Congress.”

“Congressman who?” Carol repeated with a puzzled look.

“Landis, Tom Landis.”

Carol's eyes widened slightly and she nodded. “Right, that one.” Carol hurried off, leaving the door ajar behind her.

C.J smiled up at Danny. “You see, I don't need you.” She gestured to the door with one hand. “And Carol has been good enough to leave the door open for you.”

Danny continued to grin. He took a step towards the desk and waved down to the goldfish Gail. “Now C.J, don't get sore just because I got the story before you. Congressman Landis said he couldn't continue to fairly represent his people because something in his personal life now had to take precedence. It was wonderfully vague and humble, you know,” Danny cocked his head slightly as he peered down at C.J, “I can't work that out with him, is he sincere or just better at saying the right thing than most? I mean he did try to go for you guys with Senator Whyte and Congressman Haffley to get his policy through, he has his moments.” Danny's eyes brightened with joy. “It makes for some entertaining articles on a slow day.”

C.J shook her head at this. “You reporters, I tell people you're really not that bad and then you come out with things like that.”

Danny laughed. “C.J someone has to report the story. So, why has he quit? Is it to do with Cadence?”

“Danny even if I knew, which I don't,” C.J lamented, “we both know I couldn't tell you. Leo and the president have ordered anything about Cadence or Zoey to be off limits. They're both still traumatised over what happened and they need and deserve some space and privacy.”

“C.J,” Danny retorted quietly, “we both know it doesn't work that way.”

“Yeah well it should,” C.J snapped as she waved him off.

“You owe me C.J,” he said with another smile. “How about dinner?”

“Nope,” she dismissed as she returned to looking at her notes.

“Lunch?”

“Nope.”

“C.J, come on now, be nice, I know you can.”

C.J sighed, pressed a hand to her temple and gazed up at Danny once more. “Fine, coffee but not right now, try in a couple of hours I'm busy.”

“Busy working out how to tell Leo the news?” Danny pried.

C.J waved him off again. “Out Danny before I change my mind on the coffee.”

Danny snickered at this. “I'll see you in a couple of hours.”

Danny exited the office, taking care to close the door behind him.

C.J exhaled a sigh as she wondered if Leo did know about Landis' announcement. Did anyone here? Would anyone care much? Cadence wasn't old news exactly, she was forbidden news and when it wasn't spoken about sure the curiosity grew initially but after a while then it waned as other things replaced it. Already she was less the hero of the president's daughter and now back to being the Chief of Staff's eccentric, unstable daughter. It was cruel, unfair and unjust but since Leo had put up the walls not a lot was being done to challenge this.

C.J wasn't even sure why Cadence was back in the hospital, no one really was and that was the problem. Without any news, rumours had been allowed to fester and grow. News had leaked from the Eisenhower that her post was vacant and on the list to be put out for a temporary filling. It was at Cal's insistence and Gavin had let it slip to Sam that he'd done it without the Vice President's approval.

C.J decided she would wait and see what Carol came back with about Tom Landis resigning and then take it to Josh and let him decide if and how to approach Leo about it.

\---

Agent Mike Casper stared down at his current charge calmly. She had become his most common charge and his longest. The irony was that it wasn't really in his job description to deal with the victims of acts of terrorism save for evidence gathering and this hadn't been an act of terrorism it turned out by one of a different kind of violent hatred. Mike was here on Leo's personal orders because Leo figured Mike was at least a familiar figure for Cadence and he'd decided that, that was a good thing.

Mike, like everyone else in Cadence's life, was dismayed to see her back in hospital. He felt a certain personal blame for it given her latest injury had happened under his watch. So busy looking for outside threats he had never considered the woman might be a threat to herself. Sure, it wasn't in his job description, but he felt guilty anyway.

Cadence looked up at Mike sombrely. Her grey-blue eyes were circled with dark bags of exhaustion and grooves of stress to replace the bruises they had only recently bore.

The television set high in a corner of the wall was on but turned down low. Mike had cottoned on that Cadence craved white noise, she had the television on almost all the time now. It was just after dinner time. She had received no visitors all day so Mike had entered the room to talk to her. Again it wasn't in his job description but that pesky guilt of his couldn't care what the contract said.

“Have you ever been tortured?” she quipped bluntly.

Mike kept his surprise from his face as he stared down at her. She was sitting upright, hands in her lap as she twisted a raccoon teddy about in her hands. She had stretched it slightly at its arms as she took out her stress on it. Mike knew Mallory had brought the teddy in for her for her yesterday, a scant offering of home comfort for the young woman.

Mike considered simply stating that it was classified but he knew why Cadence was asking. Cadence might not be voicing to anyone what had happened to her over the Christmas period but the marks on her body, the wild roll of her eyes, the tensing at every little sudden sound, the desire to banish silence and that odd, sudden quivering that happened now and then all told a story. The people they had arrested in connection with her kidnapping had also told a bleak story but Cadence wasn't to know the ins and outs of it.

Mike nodded.

“How do you get over that?” she queried quietly.

“Little steps,” Mike murmured. “You don't forget it but it improves.”

“Was it during a war?”

Mike nodded again. “Don't ask which one,” he advised with a faint smile.

Cadence furrowed her eyebrows slightly as turned her stare ahead. “They wanted something from you, right?” Her voice remained quiet and serious.

“Yes.”

“No one wanted anything from me,” she said. “They didn't even want me and then when there was no demand for me back they got even angrier.” She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard before opening them again. “I don't understand,” she continued in a blunt voice void of emotion, “you see the first time in Colombia no one knew I was there so no one was looking. The second time they knew eventually but it was the eventually part that was the problem and I'd been sent there as an offering anyway. This time, surely everyone knew right away with the president's daughter being involved. Surely my dad knew within hours.”

“Cadence have you asked him?”

Cadence shook her head before turning her head up to offer Mike an unpleasant smile. “He'd only lie wouldn't he? Everyone in politics lies. I just wonder is all, would it have made a difference if he'd offered something? Maybe they wouldn't have shoved my head into the water so many times while screaming. God all that water, it's always raining you know.”

“It wasn't raining then,” Mike said calmly.

Cadence shrugged. “You weren't there, how would you know?” she quipped bitingly. She turned her stare down to the raccoon teddy she continued to twist about in her hands. “It's funny you know, I always wanted away from the politics but then I came back to it, thought I missed the life and look how it's burned me and now I'm going to be forced away from it because I'm embarrassment. I tried to help people in Colombia and caused this huge scandal,” she smiled again, “and I tried to help Zoey and now I'm centrepiece shame again. My own mom won't see me.”

Cadence squeezed her eyes shut once more as she felt tears budding there. She continued to force her bitter smile to remain. “What does one have to do to get their mother's attention huh?” she quipped with feigned cheer. “Getting kidnapped on Christmas Day not enough? Do you think I should do it on Mother's Day, would she notice then?”

Mike had no idea what to say in response and was relieved when he heard voices at the door outside. He turned instinctively, stance ready for trouble and yet hand away from his gun as he heard friendly tones.

The door opened and the weary yet jovial face of Tom Landis peered in. He offered a faint smile and nod for Mike as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

Mike thought of Tom simply as 'the boyfriend', he had the run down of him from Leo and then the more family friendly version from Josh who seemed to regard Tom as a friend he was slightly embarrassed to admit to having. Mike liked him because he was there for Cadence.

Tom was exhausted as he entered the hospital room. He had made a point of striding up the hospital corridor with his hands deep in his dark coat pockets and his head bowed as he had avoided eye contact with anyone. He didn't want to deal with anymore prying stares or questions. He had meant for his news to be local, sure he'd done it in D.C which wasn't proper, his people had deserved him back in Chesapeake but he had wanted to get it over and done with. It had been no light decision but he felt it was right.

Tom gave a small, bitter smile as he considered that his decision could backfire on him.

As if it hadn't been enough dealing with the hostile gazes of the Republican politicians who felt he had betrayed them as he said his farewells to them in the House after a final visit there, there had been more to deal with.

Of course fate would have it that the Vice President would be in the House when Tom was, carrying out his duties as president of the Senate. They had met in a corridor, Tom was unwilling to believe it was a coincidence and he couldn't help the look of revulsion that had crossed his face at the sight of the man. He was too sick of trying to conjure charm for John Hoynes.

As things always seemed to be between Tom and John, their conversation had been brief and bitter under a guise of a charming farewell from John.

“Congressman,” John Hoynes had greeted Tom with a smile and a bright spark of mockery in his piercing blue eyes, “no wait,” he had held up a hand, “apologies, that's not right.”

Tom recalled John's words of praise that had followed bitterly, knowing they were hollow.

“A surprising move, brave even, although some might say foolish.”

John had clasped his hands behind his back, leaned forward to Tom and tipped his head down slightly putting himself close to Tom's right ear. It was a gesture Tom had loathed, the last time he had let the Vice President within his space the news he had delivered had been devastating.

This time John had murmured quietly, “you did what I never could for her and sacrificed your career but she is only going to despise you for it Tom because no matter what you tell her she's going to hold herself responsible.”

Tom turned his worried blue stare to Cadence as he thought of John Hoynes' words and wondered if they would ring true. Tom hadn't quit to place a new burden on Cadence, it was meant to be the opposite, he wanted to give her the chance to cast off all her burdens and escape.

Tom wondered if she knew already, if she'd seen him on the news or if someone else had told her. He glanced up to the television instinctively and saw some badly dubbed telenova displayed. He looked over his shoulder to Agent Casper.

“Any visitors today?” Tom pried.

Mike shook his head.

Tom nodded, oddly relieved and yet sad at the same time. It was almost seven o'clock in the evening, how long a day it must have been for her with no one to distract her with conversation. Tom's blue gaze darted to Mike again as he realised the man had been in the room when he had entered, was that why? Had he been talking to her?

“I want to talk to Cady alone,” Tom advised calmly.

Mike nodded this time and gave Tom a small smile. “I'll be right outside.”

Mike headed for the door, returning to a post he was all too familiar with now. The smells of the hospital didn't even faze him anymore, he was used to the mixture of medications and decay that drifted up the corridors as he swapped his guard post with other agents. Even the two week respite had not dulled his indifference to it. He frowned at that thought, being out of hospital should have been the end to it, not a momentary break.

Tom waited until the door closed before returning his attention to Cadence.

Cadence had composed herself in that moment, she was sitting rigid again, staring ahead at nothing.

“Cady I want to talk to you a minute,” Tom said gently as he reached for a chair and brought it to her bedside. “I have news.”

Tom occupied the seat and waited for her to face him but she didn't.

“Cady?”

“Tom stop visiting,” she said numbly. She was squeezing the teddy again, squeezing and squeezing at its stomach and wondering if the fluff might pop out with the force. “Dad wants me to go into a facility and I...it's hard enough but I can't keep seeing you every day and act like that's not going to happen, like I'm going to get out and just resume things.” She cracked a bitter smile and let out a harsh laugh. “We tried that, remember? I got over two weeks just. You said it yourself once, normal doesn't happen with me.”

Tom smiled, offering up that lopsided grin Cadence was so fond of but it didn't matter because she wasn't looking his way. He reached out a hand to brush against her hair gently, it was coarse under his fingertips and in need of a brush.

“I did say that and it's true but we both know this isn't how I meant it. Cady think of alternatives hmm? What about just getting away from it all? From D.C, from the job, the politics and the lifestyle?”

“What, just run away and pretend it didn't happen?”

“No, take a break from it, more than a vacation mind, a change of scenery and yes, you'll need therapy but there are different types of that and they don't all involve facilities.”

“Tom I tried that before,” she confessed. “I...I had a miscarriage,” she said softly as she released the teddy to clench the bedsheets in her hands, “right in the middle of the Presidential campaign and I fled, to Colombia. That was getting away from everything, from my thesis, from my loss, from...” Cadence trailed off.

She turned to face Tom at last but he wished she hadn't as he saw her dark expression.

“From him,” Tom ventured a guess. “Jesus Cady, was it...” Now Tom couldn't finish his sentence. He realised he just didn't want to know.

“Yes,” she croaked out. “Fuck, what does it matter you hearing it?” she cursed out loudly, startling him with her sudden outburst. “You think I'm his whore anyway, I remember that! I remember Christmas Day and you wanted to know if I was cheating on you with the Vice President. And I thought that would be the worst thing to happen to me then!” she snapped sarcastically. She let out another horrible laugh before the tears started to trickle down her cheeks again. “Why the hell are you here Tom? If it's pity or guilt I don't want either, I can't stand that! It's all I ever seem to get!”

Tom was silent as he reached for her with both hands, she resisted only a little as he drew her to him but then the sobs came and she let him pull her into his chest and wrap his arms about him.

“Cady I love you,” he admitted. “I want to help you through this, I want you happy and I want you away from the poisonous life that keeps getting you hurt. More than that I want to put you first and I swear it's not pity or guilt it's just love. I know,” he added with a small smile, “I have shitty timing. Look, it's not my forte, I can be charming but when it comes to romance I'm rusty and awkward as hell.”

Cadence pulled back from Tom as she turned a startled, damp eyed gaze up him.

Tom's smile widened as he thumbed away her tears. “Here's my suggestion, you and me go to Chesapeake and we just get away from it all, no politics, just peace. It's incredibly beautiful there you know,” he added seriously.

“You always get a sad look when you say that,” she retorted softly.

Tom tensed slightly as his smile faded. He tilted his head back slightly in an attempt to evade the nosebleed he knew was coming.

“Huh, well I suppose I did tell you I'd have my problems too. They're there and we can confront them but we have to confront yours too. You can see a psychiatrist there but I think it's better than a facility, it really is beautiful, the bay has such warm colours at sunset and the air is clean and fresh. I'll take you to the beaches and we can look for Chessie,” he joked. “I have a quiet place where we can stay, they'll not care about the D.C news, you'll get your privacy and your peace.”

Tom tugged out a tissue with his left hand before turning his head back down to Cadence. It wasn't bleeding yet but he was starting to smell the odour of blood.

Tom weaved his hand through her hair again as he held her gaze. “And I'll be there, I'll take care of you when the darkness comes and we'll get through it, we will.”

Cadence's face turned sad even as she smiled. “Tom that sounds beautiful, a beautiful fantasy.”

“It doesn't have to be a fantasy Cady,” Tom retorted seriously.

“You're a congressman.”

“Forget about that for a moment, just forget the politics, say it's not a factor, would you come with me then? Would you leave D.C and the Eisenhower and give it a chance?”

Cadence tensed as Tom mentioned the Eisenhower. They both knew what he meant by that. She thought about it for a moment and tried to imagine life somewhere else, somewhere tranquil away from the mad paced world of politics that had brought her only grief and pain, a life away from John but a life with Tom. John was pain too, whether he meant it or not he hurt her.

“God Tom I would,” she realised as she nodded, “but my dad's right, I need help. I'd love to promise you I'll get out of here and be fine but I didn't plan for the knife,” she shuddered, “I just wanted that mark gone, the mark they left in Colombia, that was all.”

The tears returned as Cadence bowed her head.

“I thought if I could get rid of it then the memories would go too, start with that and then.” She sucked in a breath and shuddered. “Well I don't know, I can't think about Christmas but it'll just come one day anyway, forcing itself into my head and then I don't know!”

Cadence started to cry and Tom pulled her back against him once more. He wrapped his left arm about her shoulders and brought his hand up to his nostrils to dab at his bloody nose. He looked about the room in displeasure, not one card this time, no well wishers for when she caused the pain herself.

“Cady, I'll be there,” he insisted.

“You can't be Tom, not all the time, think of your people and your party.”

“I did and I decided I needed to put you first and that they needed someone else.”

“What do you mean Tom?”

Cadence moved against him, tipping her head up to gaze at him in confusion.

Tom grinned and kissed her on the brow. “I didn't want it to influence your decision but now that you've said you'd like to come with me to Chesapeake I can say it. I quit today Cady.” When she went to protest, Tom pressed a finger against her mouth. “Don't you say it, don't say 'not for me', it was more selfish than you think. I thought about what I wanted for a change and what I want is you and what I want is to help you so I'm going to do that.”

Tom lowered his hand from her mouth. “You deserve someone to think of you first Cady.”

“Then, it's real?” she queried doubtfully. “It's not some fantasy that I'll go live on some beach house away from it all.”

Tom gave a mock frown. “Well now, I didn't quite say beach house but if it's what you really want although the Chessie hunting gets boring and sometimes angry beavers are involved.”

Cadence surprised them both with her giggle. “Now I want the beach house,” she teased.

Cadence pressed the side of her head against his chest and linked her hand with his free one. She squeezed it tightly. “Tom.”

“Hmm?”

“Is it a cliché if I say I love you too?”

“Oh very much so but I'll be good and ignore that fact if you do.”

Cadence smiled again. “I love you Tom.”

Tom grinned.

“And my dad is definitely going to kill you when he hears this,” she added chirpily.

Tom's grin vanished. “Wow, couldn't even let me enjoy that for a few seconds? That hurts Cady.”

“Sorry, I've been watching a lot of Mexican soaps, I've been picking up some tips on drama.”


End file.
